


Friends Don't Lie (Stranger Things Oneshots)

by CarrieWrites



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Original Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-03-28 11:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13902801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarrieWrites/pseuds/CarrieWrites
Summary: Oneshots with my ST OC Jessica Hernandez!!





	1. Running Towards Safe And Sound

Jess glared at the mirror, her hair tumbling down her shoulders.

Stupid, neglectful, parents.

They haven't even seen her healing scars.

Or they did and they just didn't care anymore.

There was only one thing they cared about her;

Looking fucking pretty and upholding an image when they have their business partners around.

They stopped caring since that THING happened the year after they moved to Hawkins.

Well, she had enough.

She grabbed the scissors, and grabbed a chunk of her hair, pressing it to the back of her head and;

SNIP!

The chunk of long hair fell to the ground, the remaining of her hair curling up more.

She wasn't done yet though...

X

When she put the scissors down, she looked at the mirror, her bangs now curly since she also cut them to her liking.

She smiled at her reflection, the pixie cut going well with her tanned complexion.

She dressed in her red-black flannel shirt and jeans, putting on her converse.

She put on her Star Wars hoodie, pulling up the hood.

She walked out of her room, to the living room and to the front door when;

"¿A dónde vas? (Where are you going?)"

Shit, her parents.

"Yo voy a Mike. (I'm going to Mike's.)" she replied, turning slightly to see her mother and father staring her down.

"No."

"¿Por qué? (Why?)" Jess snapped, turning around, glaring at them.

Ever since Eleven left, her parents suddenly had a firing passion to HATE Mike.

This, of course, didn't stop her from continuing to visit him and have sleepovers with him.

....And sometimes being with him when he calls Eleven through the Supercomm.

It helps him because when he yells and throws the Supercomm, Jess simply fixes it and waits for Mike to calm down before he calls again to say I'm sorry while she squeezes his hand.

"Ha cambiado de mala manera. (He's changed in a bad way.)" her mother snaps, glaring at her daughter.

Jess starts laughing, shaking her head.

"So have I." she states, pulling down her hood, smirking at her parents' shocked faces at the bouncing curls of her pixie cut.

"JESSIE, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" her father roared, causing her to tense.

But not in fear, but at what he called her.

"DON'T.CALL.ME.THAT!!" she screamed, her father storming towards her.

SLAP!

She bites her lip as a handprint marked her cheek, glaring at her father.

"I can call you whatever the hell I want."

"Not that nickname you can't." she hissed.

Only Eleven can call her that.

She wouldn't let anyone call her that.

Even if it means taking a beating from her father and mother.

X

She was locked in her room, looking at the bruises and handprints over her body, especially in her arms.

Well, at least they know now.

And like she suspected, they didn't care.

She took a deep breath, grabbing her Supercomm from under the bed and changed it to Mike's channel.

"Mike? Do you copy?"

"Jess? What's wrong?"

"Mike...I need to escape. Can I stay at your place for tonight?"

No answer.

"I'm getting on my bike as we speak. Pack your Supercomm in your backpack. You never know if your parents are looking for you and you need to keep moving."

"Thank you, Mike, you're a lifesaver."

"Don't mention it. Over and out."

X

She had packed extra clothes, her Supercomm, some of her novels and horror books, and a flashlight in her backpack.

She pulled her hood up, looking at the mirror, her makeup covering the bruises on her face.

She looked down her window and she saw a figure rode towards her side of the house, looking up at her.

She jumps out of the window, hopping out of her roof and safely on the ground, rushing to Mike.

She jumped on the back of his bike, wrapping her arms around him, holding on tightly.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," she whispered.

X

They were under Eleven's pillow fort, Jess' hood still up, both of them quiet.

"What happened?"

She sighed.

"We had a fight about me hanging out with you a lot, saying you had changed for the worse...not to mention me as well."

She chuckled.

"But what really set me off was when dad called me 'Jessie'."

Mike tensed at the nickname.

"Eleven..."

"Yeah...I got mad naturally, though they will never know exactly why. I mean, they never called me that before today and I just don't want that nickname she gave me to-"

"-Become toxic, yeah I know."

He frowned, pulling down her hood.

He smiled at the pixie cut.

"Well, who knew your hair was more curly when it's short."

Jess chuckled, smiling at him.

The doorbell rang.

She tensed, grabbing her backpack.

Mike went up, looking through the crack in the basement door to see his mother talking to Jess' parents.

He immediately ran back downstairs, grabbing his jacket.

"They're here. Go!"

He thrusts the jacket towards her, her looking up at him.

"Take it! And go to Lucas'! Quickly!"

She puts it on, grabbing her backpack, running out of the basement door, closing it quickly.

Mike sighed, looking back at the fort, frowning.

If Eleven was listening to what he had to say what was happening to Jess, he knew she'd be pissed and outraged.

X

Lucas woke up to slamming on the door.

He got up, walking towards the door, opening it only to reveal Jess rushing in, giving him a huge hug, breathing heavily.

"What the hell Jess-"

"My parents."

That was all Lucas needed to hear before he closed the door, hugging her back.

X

"Jess, are you sure you can't stay here for the night? Your parents sound like they want to murder you." Lucas asked, giving her a water bottle.

"Lucas, the last thing I want to do is give my parents any reason to murder your parents. When they come, I'm going to sneak out your window and run to Dustin's."

Lucas frowned at the tanned girl, the past summer had given her a darker complexion, and it had yet to fade.

She sighed.

"They already had gone to Mike's, and I fled before they could come down the basement. Who knows how long until-"

Banging was heard on the door, causing them to freeze.

"Go!" he hissed, giving her a couple of food bars and another water bottle.

She took them, and ran to his room, opening the window and hopping out of it.

He sighed, getting his Supercomm.

He needed to tell Dustin.

X

Dustin had opened the door the minute he saw a figure running towards the house, hugging the Colombian girl tightly as she ran into him.

"Lucas?"

"Yeah, he sounded really worried."

He closed the door.

He looks at her, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Didn't you have more freckles?"

She froze.

The makeup.

"No, I've always had this many."

Dustin frowned, getting suspicious but decided not to push it.

Jess smiled and grabbed his hat, putting it on.

He laughs, the hat going well on her head.

"That hat makes you look cute."

She smiled, blushing.

He froze, blushing as well when he caught on with what he said.

"Uh, I mean-"

"Thanks, Dustin."

He smiled, about to ask her a question when they heard banging on the door.

They froze, rushing to his room, Dustin pulling up the window.

"Will's?"

"Yes, and, luckily, the ONLY house they don't know where they live."

He sighed in relief.

She's about to hand him back his hat when he says;

"Keep it. I have a couple spares. Now go!"

She grins, kissing his cheek before hopping out the window, running quickly to the Byers house.

He blushed, touching where she kissed him.

X

Joyce was the one who answered the door when she saw Jess standing there, tired and scared.

"My parents-"

"It's okay sweetheart, come in."

She walked in, and Joyce took it in she already had been at the Wheelers, the Sinclairs, and finally at the Hendersons.

The evidence from the jacket, to the water bottle in her hand, to the familiar hat on her head, was too overwhelming.

This was the final stop to her fleeing.

Will and Jonathan had gotten up, Will widening his eyes at the sight of Jess.

"Jess? What're you-"

"Her parents aren't safe to be around at the moment, so she's staying with us," Joyce says, Will frowning at Jess.

"'Not safe'?"

"......They beat me," she confessed, wiping away a bit of makeup, revealing a bruise.

Joyce gasped, covering her mouth, Will widening his eyes.

"Why did they do it?" Jonathan asked, walking towards her, wiping away more of the makeup, handprints, and bruises reappearing once the makeup was removed.

"....They didn't want me hanging around Mike anymore, and I wasn't going to let them stop me and...my dad called me 'Jessie'..."

Will nodded, aware that was the nickname Eleven called Jess when he was in the Upside Down and Jess didn't want anyone else calling her that.

"And...they beat me," she mumbled, looking away.

She looked to Will walking to him.

"I haven't been able to contact her today in the craziness...can I-"

"Use my room and talk to her as long as you want...if she's listening, she'd probably want to hear everything that has happened."

Jess nodded, smiling painfully at Will.

Will sighed, looking at his mom as Jess left to his room, closing the door softly.

"Can I...call the boys to see if they want to come? No doubt they're worried about her."

"Of course sweetheart, she needs all the support she could get right now."

X

Eleven was in the void, turning to see Mike with the Supercomm, hesitating to pull up the antenna and call her.

He sighs, pulling it up and turns on the channel.

"Hey El, it's Mike. It's day 92, around 10:30 pm. Still here."

Eleven noticed the worriedness on his face.

He seemed more worried and scared than usual.

Why?

"Something bad happened today...with Jess."

Eleven gasped, freezing, staring at the boy.

"Jessie?"

"She...uh...she called me, telling me she needed to escape from her place. I, of course, decided to help her because that's what best friends do."

He gulped, looking down.

"When we came back, I noticed she was wearing makeup but I decided not to ask, not wanting to bother her but El, her parents beat her."

She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Uh, 'beat' could mean different things but, in this case, it means to hurt someone INTENTIONALLY, to hurt someone on purpose. Like, how Troy and James hurt me and Jess on that day at recess."

Eleven's eyes widened, her mouth opening.

"She told me what happened and...well...apparently she got hurt because her parents don't like me anymore. They don't want us hanging out anymore which is bullshit because she's practically my sister and we've been friends since she moved here so that's not happening anytime soon. She also got mad because...her dad called her 'Jessie'."

Eleven's breath hitched, her eyes pooling with angry tears.

"She's absolutely set on no one calling her 'Jessie' that isn't you. And according to her, that includes her parents...If you're out there and wondering why she's not with me at the moment is because...well...she had to leave. Her parents had come to my house and she ran out in time before they came down, yelling at me to tell them where she was. I told them what I told those bad men when they asked us where you were. That I didn't know where she was and even if I did I would never tell them. They were crazy El."

"Mike?"

Eleven flinched as a new voice came in.

"Will?"

"Mike...it's Jess. She's here right now and, I already called Lucas and Dustin but I was wondering-"

"I'm going. I'll be there in a bit Will. How is she?"

A heavy sigh is heard.

"She's got bruises and handprints all over her body...even in her arms. I guess they found out."

"And didn't care by the sound of it. I knew she was wearing makeup. I'm coming Will, I'll be there in a bit."

"Ok. Over and out."

Mike was silent.

"Sorry El to cut this short but, I gotta go. Jess needs us."

Eleven nodded, understanding.

"Go, Mike."

X

Eleven opened her eyes again, seeing Jess with her hands clamped together, her Supercomm on Will's bedside desk.

She walked up to her, hearing Jess mumble things in Spanish.

"Jessie?"

Jess looked up, freezing.

El gasped, covering her mouth at the sight of her face.

"¿Once? ¿Estas aqui?"

El lowered her hands, as Jess looked around, now deciding to look at Jess' new haircut.

Her hair was so curly.

"Like mine," she whispered, smiling at the thought.

Guess Jess was right.

They were similar in many ways.

She reached out to touch a curl, forgetting that when she touched her, she immediately faded away.

Eleven gasped, snapping back to reality.

She pulled the blindfold off her head, panting uneasily.

"Kid? What's wrong?"

She turned to Hopper.

"Jessie...trouble...parents..."

Hopper went into chief mode.

"Full name?"

Eleven swallowed.

The memory of both of them arguing about Mike yelling at her that day when it was revealed Will was 'dead' appeared.

"Mike said her full name was Jessica Hernandez."

"Hernandez? Those Colombian assholes? What'd they do to her?"

She frowned.

"Bruises...handprints...Mike said 'beat'...hurt...Will's..." she mumbled, a bit tired and woozy from using her powers.

"Hey, calm down kid. You're okay. You're doing the right thing telling me about this. They might not think so, but Jessica needs help from police."

"She won't be going back? Colombia?"

"Normally we would have no choice, but, if she's willing to jump between the houses of the boys then she won't have to. Her parents on the other hand..."

"Good."

"Yeah," the chief chuckled. "Good."

"How are you going to tell? They don't know that I'm-"

"Her parents have already been warned about something like this before. Let's just say, someone, called them after hearing the commotion from next door and called the police. We'll handle the rest."

Eleven nodded, frowning.

"Hey, we'll handle it. Don't worry about your friend-"

"Sister."

"Sister, okay? We'll make sure she's safe. I'll go down there and make sure to get them okay?"

Eleven nodded.

"Now, remember the rules?"

Eleven nodded again.

"Yes."

"Good, now, get some sleep. I'll let you know how things went in the morning."

She nodded again.

"Ok."

X

There was a soft knocking on the door, causing Jess to freeze, her eyes widening.

"Stay in Will's room okay sweetie? If it's your parents, I'll tell them you're not here, okay?"

Jess gulped, nodding.

Joyce frowned at the sight of the girl who survived through self-harm, going through depression and not letting it affect her friendships or her academics, being absolutely frightened by her parents.

The people that kids go to when they're about to break.

Joyce sighed, leaving the room, rubbing her forehead.

Jess looked to Will, her hand on her backpack, ready to flee again if her parents DID find her.

But...where exactly?

"Oh, hello boys."

There were quick footsteps being heard and the three boys stood in the doorway to Will's home.

Mike looked at the Supercomm on the bedside table and looked at her, frowning.

Even with all this fuss, she still made time to try contact Eleven.

"Holy shit Jess! Your face!" Dustin exclaimed, rushing towards the Colombian girl.

He takes the hat he gave her off her head, freeing her curls.

"Dustin..." she sighed, wincing as Dustin took her face.

"They beat you?!" Lucas exclaimed, growing angry.

"It's not a big deal Lucas," she says, looking at him.

"Yes, it is! They could've killed you, Jessica!" Mike exclaimed.

Jess frowned, looking at him.

The boys looked at each other, not knowing exactly what to do.

Jess' solution to this problem seemed to be running away.

But, that wasn't going to solve anything.

"Jess, are you really okay?" Will asked, looking at the girl.

She frowned, opening her mouth to ask why he asked such a question when he's the one who came back from the Upside Down three months ago, but closed it.

Friends don't lie.

Tears stung at her eyes and she shook her head.

"No...I'm not okay."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Dustin asked, brushing her curls back.

She sniffed, shaking her head.

"Can...we all just stay here...and don't talk?"

"Sure Jess," Mike says, smiling sadly at her.

The boys sat around Jess, hugging her comfortingly as she closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks.

X

Joyce heard a car pull up and looked to see it was Hopper, causing her to furrow her eyebrows.

She opened the door, Hopper looking up at her.

"Is Jessica-"

"Yes, she is. Her parents?"

Hopper laughed.

"Even if they did come to me, I wouldn't tell them. Besides, it would have been a waste anyways."

He frowned.

"They disappeared, only leaving a note."

X

Jess frowned, her fists tightening.

Her parents had left, leaving her alone with the house to herself until she was 18.

"They said they'll be sending money to cover your expenses until you turn 18 and when you do, they expect you to be out of there."

Jess rolled her eyes.

"They always threatened they'd do this since the incident, I just assumed they were pulling my leg. I guess not."

Jess sighed, rubbing her face, her curls tumbling down her face.

"God how I hate them. And the sad thing is that they used to be really loving parents."

Joyce rubbed her back, frowning at the Colombian girl.

"What are you going to do now?"

Jess scoffs at Mike's question.

"I don't know Mike, I really don't. I'm still 12, I don't know how to do the basic stuff so I can survive."

"How about, we plan what we're going to do in the morning and you stay with us for the night? It's extremely late." Joyce suggested.

Jess nodded.

"Yeah...yeah that sounds good. I'm really tired from all that running."

Jess looked to Joyce and for the second time that night, she broke into tears, Joyce hugging her tightly.

One by one, everyone joined in the hug, not saying anything, just comforting her in silence.

How ironic that while she was running from the danger...

She was running towards safe and sound.


	2. Supercomm Call About Eleven

Mike sighed, walking towards the basement when he heard someone talking.

"Mike? Mike, are you there? Mike, do you copy?"

It was Jess.

Mike stayed silent, not really wanting to answer.

Well, not until...

"I had a nightmare about her again. Please, Mike, I need to talk to you. Do you copy?"

His eyes widened, rushing to the pillow fort, sitting down and pulling up the antenna.

"Jess? I'm here. I copy."

He heard her breathing, and he became worried.

It sounded as if she was crying.

"Mike...I really, really miss her. I miss El."

He swallowed, tears brimming his eyes.

"I know...I miss her too. God, I miss her so much." he whimpered, rubbing his eyes.

She let out a shaky sob, Mike letting the tears run down.

Other than Will, they were the only ones who talk about El to each other.

It didn't help much, but, it did clear their heads for a short while before one of them calls the other about another dream or nightmare about the telekinetic girl that changed their lives.

"Remember when we were looking for Will and we took a five-minute break, you made funny faces at her to make her laugh?" Mike asked, making Jess laugh.

"Oh my god, yes! She couldn't stop giggling the most adorable as fuck giggles. That's when I decided that I would make her laugh any chance I got."

Mike smiled, remembering just watching the two girls just laughing, Dustin chuckling at the sight of the two girls getting along while Lucas rolled his eyes, not-so-smoothly hiding his amused grin.

"Remember when we both taught her what 'Promise' meant?" Jess whispered.

Mike nodded.

"Yeah, I do."

They both had grabbed onto Eleven's hands, running up to Mike's room, promising her not to tell his mom and explaining what promise meant.

Since then, 'promise' was a word they all shared a deep meaning for.

"You know...I taught her what a 'hug' meant and to always pay attention to the way a person hugs you." Jess confessed, wiping the tears she didn't know was running.

"Really?" Mike says, laying down, looking up.

"Yeah...she was so confused about what I was talking about, but...after the hug when she saved us from Troy and his minion...she gave me a knowing smile. I think she figured out what I meant by there are different types of hugs depending on the person giving them."

Mike nodded, knowing what she meant as well.

Jess and Eleven's hugs were different no doubt. While they both felt safe, caring, and loving, Jess' hugs always felt sibling-like. Eleven's felt more.

"I get what you mean. Both of your hugs are different in a good way."

Jess smiled, about to say something.

"Jessie."

She froze, looking in front of her.

Nothing.

Suddenly, she felt something touch her cheek, tears brimming her eyes again.

"Jess? You still there?" Mike asked, getting worried about the lack of response.

She didn't reply.

"Jessie."

"E-Eleven?" she whispered.

Mike widened his eyes, getting up.

"Jess? Jess, do you copy?"

Jess didn't hear him as she felt something peck her cheek.

But, the room was empty beside her.

She shook her head, the feeling of someone being there gone.

"I-I'm so sorry Mike. My mind's playing stupid games to me again."

Mike became quiet, his eyes were cast down.

"Same with me. Last time it happened it was during Halloween."

"Before, during, or after Trick Or Treating?"

"After."

"What happened?"

"I-I heard her calling out to me and I felt something brush my hand. But, she wasn't there."

Jess nods.

"Are you still praying to her?"

"Yeah. Still contacting her through the Supercomm?"

"I have been for the past 353 days."

Jess bit her lip, closing her eyes.

"I really wish she's okay."

Mike sighs, shortly letting in a shaky breath.

"I do too. I wish she's alive AND healthy."

"She has to...she has to be."

Jess frowns, looking out her window.

"I gotta go. Bye Mike."

"Ok...bye Jess. Over and out."

They both push the antenna down, and Jess crawls under the covers of her bed, and close her eyes, dreaming of a world where Eleven was safe and reunited with her and Mike.


	3. The Party Hates Hospitals

If there was one thing that The Party all shared in common was that they HATED hospitals.

Especially if your best friend was in one right now, practically bleeding to death and the only thing you could do when you found them was to call for help and hold them protectively as they sobbed.

That's how it was when the boys decided to go out to the Arcade and were about to invite Jess.

Mike was the first to hear the muffled shouts from the house, getting the boys attention.

With the help from Lucas, he and Dustin climbed up to the second story, peering out Jess' window.

Mike covered his mouth when he saw the most shocking, heartbreaking sight of his best friend getting punched in the face by her father.

"Jessica..."

Dustin had frozen all over, watching them abuse Jess by yanking her hair, wincing as she let out a painful scream.

Her mother pushed her harshly, causing her to hit her head against the window, Mike and Dustin gasping when the window cracked, blood appearing as she sled down, barely able to get up.

They ducked when they saw her father walk up to her, Dustin shutting his eyes when they heard a thud against the wall.

"You're a nothing but a piece of shit, you got that Jessica?"

Mike gritted his teeth, grabbing his Supercomm, and looked directly at Lucas before speaking.

"Get Hopper. NOW."

Lucas noticed how angry and serious Mike's voice sounded so he ran with Will to the direction of the Police Station.

Dustin heard another cry of pain from the room and he grabbed his headset, putting it on and spoke on it.

"Hey, Jess! You alright? You sound like you hurt yourself."

The beating against the wall stopped, and Mike could hear Jess' parents cursing.

"Silly goose, you forgot to turn off your Supercomm! But in all seriousness, are you alright? That sounded pretty bad."

They heard the door open and close, causing them to turn and open the window, running towards Jess.

"Holy shit, Jessica!" Dustin whispered-yelled, cradling her head, her brown locks staining red with blood.

Her face beaten up and bruised, her body covered in scratches deep enough to scar.

'As if she needed more...' Mike thought angerly, hearing the sirens outside.

Jess was sobbing, tears running down her cheeks.

"¡Lo-Lo siento!" She cried, her eyes darting to Mike.

She weakly pointed across the room, Mike following it to see her necklace broken, the ON and CE broke apart.

"T-T-They yanked it f-f-from my neck, a-and-"

"Hey, it's okay. We can fix it." Dustin reassured her, not caring about the blood staining his jeans.

She stared up at his eyes, gasping quick and short gasps.

"Promise?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, promise."

She offered a weak smile, to which he returned.

Mike held onto her hand as nurses and officers stormed into the room, putting her on the stretcher, Joyce, and Hopper following after them.

Lucas and Will, who had run in last, froze when they saw Jess on the stretcher, all bruised and beaten up.

The rest was a blur.

X

Dustin placed five fictional books on the counter, looking at the Librarian to check them out.

"Mr. Henderson, 5 books are the limit."

Dustin rolled his eyes.

"Those are five books."

"No, that's ten if you count the ones you've already checked out."

"Does it look like I care? I need these books for my friend who's in the hospital. She loves fantasy. Please." Dustin begged.

"No."

Dustin huffed, glaring at her before looking up, acting confused.

"What the hell?" he says, pointing up and while she looked up, he grabbed the books, running out the door.

"Mr. Henderson!"

"JESSICA NEEDS HER IMAGINATION TO KEEP FLOWING!!"

X

Mike was in the chair next to Jess' bed, glancing over at her every few seconds, hoping she'll wake up.

It's been a week since they rescued her from a possible death, and she had yet to wake up when they were allowed to see her.

Dustin walked in, looking hopeful for a second before the spark disappeared.

"Still not awake yet?"

Mike shook his head.

"No."

Dustin puts the books aside, Mike getting up and looking at one, scoffing at the sight of the title.

" _Princess Bride_? Really?"

"Jess loves fantasy, so shut up," Dustin says, causing Mike to raise his hands in defense.

"Dustin? Mike?"

The boys turned to see Jess, her eyes half open.

"Jess, oh my god!"

They both ran towards her, hugging her gently.

She hugs them back, rubbing their backs.

"You scared us half to death!"

"Sorry boys. That wasn't my intention."

Dustin grabbed her face, pressing his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes, searching for that small spark that she regained since her recovery from cutting herself ended.

He smiled when he found it, both blushing madly.

"Dustin? What are you doing?"

He flinched, pulling away.

"N-Nothing..."

Mike noticed and despite wanting to roll his eyes at the two, he couldn't help but smile as Jess laughed at Dustin's red face, definitely remembering it being a while since Jess genuinely laughed.

X

Will and Lucas had run up to Jess, hugging her tightly.

"Thank god you're still alive."

"You scared us."

She hugs them back, smiling at them.

"Sorry I scared you."

Will sat down on her bed and handed her a mixtape.

"Here, It has all of your favorite Michael Jackson songs."

Jess smiled, taking it.

"Thanks, Will. Did Jackson help you put it together?"

"Yeah, a bit."

She smiled again before her expression changed, her smile dropping.

"Have they..."

She hesitated.

"Have they found my parents?"

She watched as the boys' expressions changed to anger and hatred.

"No, they haven't found the fuckers," Dustin says, through his gritted teeth.

"But when they do, we're going to pay them back 10 times as much as they hurt you," Lucas growled, causing Jess to bite her lip.

"How long?" Mike asked, looking at her.

Tears filled her eyes as she whispered out a reply.

"Since Gabby."

The boys froze, realizing that would be-

"4 YEARS?! 4 YEARS OF ABUSE?!" Mike yelled, causing Jess to flinch.

"Mike..."

"Why didn't you tell us?! I thought friends don't lie!"

"Mike, calm down," Dustin says, pushing him aside.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, whimpers escaping her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I was just scared," Jess whispered.

"We could've helped you, Jess! We could have sent the assholes-"

"MIKE! ENOUGH!!" Dustin yelled, causing the door to open, a nurse told them to get out.

"You're disturbing her."

With sounds of protest, they all left, Dustin, looking back to see Jess sob on her hands, shaking.

No wonder she avoided them the first month after Gabby died, she was suffering at the hands of her so-called-parents, emotionally and physically.

He sighed, leaving.

When he caught up to the boys, silence surrounded them.

They hated hospitals.

X

**_One week ago..._ **

Eleven was watching Soaps on the TV when the radio sounded.

She turned when Hopper spoke on it.

_"Hey, kid...listen I'm going to be coming late today. Something bad happened..."_

She heard him sigh.

_"Your friend Jessica Hernandez is in the hospital from child abuse."_

The TV suddenly shuts off, El's eyes widening.

_"It's bad El. She was practically bleeding everywhere. The boys were able to save her before it got worse but, she's lost a lot of blood. It's a miracle that she's even alive right now..."_

El let out a sob, covering her mouth.

_"I'll let you know what happened when I get home, okay?"_

El bit her lip, her fists tightening.

She got the TV and dragged it to her room, closing the door.

She grabbed her blindfold, switching the channels until she came across a static one, putting on the blindfold, closing her eyes, concentrating.

She opened her eyes, and she was in the void.

She turned and gasped, her eyes widening.

She saw the boys surrounding a bed, in which Jess laid in.

El walked up to her, drowning out Dustin's swearing and threats to murder Jess' parents, tears slipping down her cheeks as she saw the bruises and cuts on her face.

She looked up and gasped when she saw Mike looking directly at her.

She swallowed, knowing that he couldn't see her but, god damn it, her heart pounded quick and hard.

Mike sighed, placing something on the bedside table, causing El to walk over to look at it.

She gasped, covering her mouth.

It was the necklace that Jess wore on the day she disappeared.

_"What happened?"_

_"Apparently her parents ripped it off her neck and broke it."_

El gasped, turning to Jess, reaching out to touch her hand and Mike's, only for them to vanish.

She gasped.

"JESSIE!! MIKE!!"

She snapped back to the real world, pulling off the blindfold and sobbing on her hands.

She hated hospitals.


	4. Together Till The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Mike and Jess went with El to the Upside Down?

"Eleven, stop!" Mike exclaimed, dragging Jess with him.

Jess took El's hand before she could send them flying back, causing her to turn to the both of them.

"Not safe..." El whispered.

"Maybe not, but we'll stick together." Jess smiled at her, looking at the Demogorgon still struggling.

"We promised you we'll stick together, no matter what. Because that's what friends do. They stick together." Mike says, Jess nodding.

El whimpered.

The last thing she wanted was to drag them through whatever might happen when she killed the Demogorgon.

"I can help you El. Help you stop this. We're sisters, aren't we?" Jess asked, looking at her.

El looked at Jess' hand that was holding onto hers.

"Yes."

Jess grinned, squeezing her hand before looking at the Demogorgon, who now roared in twice as much pain.

Mike held onto El's other hand, squeezing it tightly.

El felt strong and determined as the three walked up as Jess' face started to show her veins, her nose and ears bleeding.

Jess and Mike turned to look at Lucas and Dustin, watching with wide eyes.

Jess smiled sadly at Dustin.

"Bye."

She looked at El before wiping her tears, putting on a strong face.

She can do this.

She can help El.

They glared at the Demogorgon.

"No more," El says.

"Go to hell." Jess hissed.

They lifted their hands, the ones that were holding onto each other, palms out with their fingers still intertwined.

The Demogorgon screeched as El and Jess screamed in concentration, Mike squeezing El's hand tightly.

The particles of the Demogorgon engulfed them, Mike not being able to hear the two screaming, not being able to feel El's hand, and not being able to hear his own heartbeat pounding hard and quickly.

They vanished.

X

El opened her eyes, coughing out a liquid.

At that moment, she heard a gasp next to her, causing her to look and widen her eyes as Jess coughed out the liquid in her throat.

"Ew..."

"Jessie!"

Jess turned to El, her eyes widening.

"¡Once!"

She hugged the girl, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Oh god, I thought we died!"

El laughed, finding what she said relatable.

Jess opened her eyes, suddenly freezing.

"Oh, my- Mike!"

El froze, pushing Jess off her as she turned to see Mike faced down on the floor.

"Shit! Shit!" Jess exclaimed, turning him over, his eyes closed.

"Mike?! Mike!!" El exclaimed, shaking him.

"Come on big bro, you gotta wake up!" Jess says, shaking him, tears forming.

"Mike! Mike!"

El swallowed before placing her head on his chest, sighing out in relief.

"Beating...still beating."

Jess whimpered.

"Mikey...come on..."

El hesitated, thinking of a way to wake him up.

She remembered how the bad men would wake her up when she fell asleep in that room back in the lab.

With a painful slap.

She winced at the thought, not wanting to inflict that pain on Mike but, he wasn't waking up.

She hesitantly lifted her arm...only for Jess to grab it.

"Allow me."

El looked at Jess as she lowered her arm.

"God, you're so lucky we both already had our first kisses and I see you as my big brother."

El widened her eyes as Jess placed her mouth over Mike's, blowing air into his mouth.

Just as she pulled back, Mike coughed, sitting up, as the liquid came out of his mouth.

Jess wiped her mouth, making a sound of disgust.

"Mike!" El gasped.

He froze, turning to the two.

"Hey, Mike." Jess smiled.

He threw his arms around the two, catching them off guard.

"El! Jess!"

Jess and El hugged him back, all three of them squeezing each other tightly.

They were together.

It didn't matter if they were in the Upside Down...they were together.

X

They were walking out the classroom, Jess leaning on the wall, feeling drained.

Mike helped her up, along with El who was also weak from overusing her powers.

"Dustin?" Jess croaked.

Mike froze, El furrowing her eyebrows together in worry.

They watched as Jess whimpered when there was no reply, walking on.

"Jess-"

"Mike," El says, grabbing his arm, shaking her head.

It wouldn't help to try to calm her down.

"Dustin?"

They turned to see Jess full on crying, looking frantically.

"She misses him," El whispered.

Mike frowned as Jess gripped onto the jacket Dustin gave her.

"Dustin?!"

Mike and El gasped when she collapsed on her knees, screaming out in agony.

"Jessie!"

"Jess!"

They both ran up to her, hugging her tightly.

"DUSTIN!! DUSTIN!!"

El looked at Jess, tears running down her sister's face.

"E-El-"

"I understand."

She gets it.

She understands how it feels to be ripped away from someone she wants to protect.

Jess whimpered.

Mike looked up when he heard something, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You guys hear that?"

They turned around, seeing a portal.

El started walking towards it, Mike and El following behind her.

Jess gasped when she saw a soldier through the portal, dragging Mike and El to the side.

"Bravo team, check in."

El swallowed, turning back to the portal, pushing her arm through it, gasping when it went through.

"Out. We can get out."

"How? The portal's too small." Mike says.

Jess rolls her eyes as El stepped back, both of them drawing their arms out, making the portal bigger.

"O-Oh. Right." Mike laughed nervously.

Jess sighed.

"I'll go first."

X

Getting out of the Upside Down was a disgusting process.

Jess left the Upside Down all slimy and dirty.

As did Mike and El.

But, they were out.

"Let's get out of here."

X

They were walking back to Mike's place, freezing when they saw police cars there.

Mike was horrified.

"Nancy, Holly, my parents-"

"Are safe without you walking in there," Jess says, looking at Mike.

Mike looked at her.

"Mike, they're probably telling your parents and Nancy as of right now that El killed us. Why? Because apparently to them, she's a 'Russian Spy'." Jess says, air quoting Russian Spy, making El frown.

Mike swallowed.

"And the last thing we need is to walk in there and have them take away El. We have to stay away."

Jess sighed, looking at the house.

"One day though, we'll be able to walk in there without having to worry about anything bad happening."

"Promise?"

Jess nodded.

"One day. I promise."

Mike nodded.

"Okay."

They all turned back to the forest, holding onto each other's hands.

Ready to survive anything together till the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by OTTSTF 'Early Reunions' series!
> 
> Part 2 coming soon!


	5. November 12, 1983

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternative AU: Jess' parents are with Brenner when he attempts to bring El back to the lab.
> 
> [DISCLAIMER: Mentions of child abuse! Read at your own risk!]

Jess felt tears form as she attempted to wake up El with Mike.

"She's barely breathing." Mike panics.

"We gotta go," Lucas says, looking at the two.

"Leave her!"

Jess looked up and gasped when she saw the elder man from her flashbacks.

She glared at him, narrowing her eyes as she stood next to Mike.

"Step away from the child."

"No! You want her? You'll have to kill us first." Mike said, Dustin and Lucas, walking up to the two.

"That's right!" Dustin yelled.

"Eat shit!" Lucas yelled.

"Go to fucking hell!" Jess roared.

Her anger suddenly vanished when two adults walked up to the man, her eyes widening in horror.

"¿M-Madre? ¿P-Padre?" she gasped.

Then, men grabbed them from behind, causing them all to scream and shout.

"Oh, no! No, no!" Mike yelled.

"No! No! Get off me!" Dustin yelled.

"Let me go!" Jess screamed.

"You idiot! No!" Lucas yelled.  
  
"Get off me!"

"Ow! Let go!" Mike yelled.

Jess' parents nodded at the men, and she started to scream when they lifted her up from the ground, walking towards her parents.

"NO! NO! LET ME GO!!" she shrieked.

She kicked the air, struggling against the hold.

Jess' mother glared at her before slapping her hard.

"JESSICA!"

"DON'T TOUCH OUR SISTER!!"

Jess let out the deadliest glare when she turned to look at her mother.

"Look at the fucking mess you helped the experiment make, you little mistake." her mother growled.

Jess ignored her comment, struggling against the Bad Man's hold.

"Fuck you." she hissed.

Her mother turned red in fury, yanking Jess' hair, causing her to scream as she did so, and threw her against the wall, almost knocking her unconscious.

The boys screamed in fury and anger.

"YOU BITCH!!"

"FUCKER!!"

"DON'T GET NEAR HER!!"

Jess fell down on the floor next to El, opening her eyes, her vision blurred by tears, looking hopelessly at the boys as they screamed at her so-called mother.

The elder man, looking unfazed at the events, just simply walked up to El, picking her up.

"Don't you fucking touch my sister, you son of a-"

Jess whimpered as her father stepped on her head.

"Shut up you little bitch."

She couldn't hear what was going on, her ears were ringing.

But, her vision had cleared.

El had woken up, whimpering as she looked at the boys, particularly at Mike.

"LET HER GO! LET HER GO, YOU BASTARD!!"

Her ears were ringing, but she could recognize that yelling as Mike's.

El turned to Jess her eyes widening.

She cried, reaching out to her, only to be pulled back by 'Papa'.

Jess couldn't hear the conversation, but she did notice how El sneaked glances at her and her father, switching her expressions between desperation and hatred.

El turned to look at 'Papa', frowning at him.

"Bad. Bad."

She grabbed onto Jess' hand, squeezing it as tightly as she could and reached out to Mike.

"Mike. Mike! Mike!"

Jess whimpered as her father dug his shoe harder onto her head, tears running down her cheeks as she squeezed El's hand as well.

One thing led to another, she heard a roar, her father's shoe was off her head, and she was being lifted up into someone's arms, a few of their tears dropping onto her face.

She looked up, blinking her tears away.

"D-Dustin?"

She turned her head, seeing Mike carrying El, running with Dustin as Lucas yelled at them to hurry up.

She suddenly remembered about her parents abusing her in front of the boys, and she let out a sob, burying her face into Dustin's shirt, her body shaking.

"Lo siento...lo siento." she whimpered.

Dustin looked down at the shaking and sobbing girl in his arms as he ran, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys...I'm so sorry. They threatened to hurt you four if I ever did." she sobbed.

I'm so sorry...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that some people reading these oneshots have no idea who Jess is other than that she's my OC.
> 
> Here's her story for Season 1 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839831/chapters/31829610


	6. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate AU: Where El sneaked off to go trick-or-treating.

El looked at the sheet that she was supposed to go as a ghost in.

She threw it on over her body, adjusting it so she could see through the eyeholes.

The Bad Men wouldn't be able to see her.

X

She was walking through the neighborhood, an empty pillowcase in her hand.

She looked warily at the houses.

She knew what to do, she had listened to Jessie explain the concept.

But...she was scared that one of those houses inhabited a Bad Man, recognizing her and taking her away again.

She gasped when two figures bumped into her, causing her to fall down.

"Holy fu- are you alright?"

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

She could recognize those voices anywhere, as she looked up to see Jessie and Mike in costumes.

Her eyes watered as Jessie held out her hand to her, smiling apologetically.

She shakily grabbed her hand, letting in a soft, quiet gasp at the familiar warm, friendly grasp as Jessie pulled her up.

"Nice costume." Jessie complimented, smiling at her.

She turned to Mike.

"We kinda match, don't we _hermano major_?"

Mike laughed, El smiling under the sheet at the sound as he threw his head back.

"Kind of."

Jessie grinned, turning to her, the smile fading a bit.

El froze when Jessie looked at her eyes, her eyebrows furrowing as she stared at her with her bright blue eyes, that popped out with the black makeup.

_Pretty._

"Jess?" Mike asked, clearly wondering what she was doing.

Jessie widened her eyes, letting in a short gasp.

"¿O-Once?"

El's eyes widened, breathing in and out quickly.

Of course...she should have remembered.

Jessie can tell who the person was by just looking at their eyes.

Mike told her about that when the boys tried to scare her three years ago and she called Lucas out who was all in costume except for his eyes.

She debated on playing dumb but...

_Friends don't lie._

"Yes," she whispered.

Mike and Jessie's eyes widened, Mike, letting in a shaky gasp.

Jessie didn't waste time throwing her arms around her, trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes, Mike joining them.

El let out a shaky sob as she hugged them back, her lips trembling upwards into a smile.

One that reached her eyes.

When they pulled back, El widened her eyes at Jessie's face.

She snorted, nudging Mike.

He turned and laughed-cried through his own tears.

"Hey Jess, you got a makeup-malfunction."

Jessie widened her eyes in horror, wiping her cheek.

"Oh, fucking hell!" she laughed, tears still running down as she stared at her hand, the black streaks still running down her cheeks.

They all started laughing as Jess wiped her face, miserably failing at trying to remove the black streaks on her cheeks.

El turned to Mike, smiling at his costume.

"Ghostbuster," she says, pointing at him.

She pointed at herself.

"Ghost."

Jessie smiled as Mike let his grin stretch wider as El hugged him again.

"You found me."

He hugs her back, tears running down again.

Jessie sighed, smiling when the two finally let go.

"We have so many questions but...we can't ask them right now. For now, want to join in on trick-or-treating?"

El grinned, nodding eagerly.

Jessie grins, grabbing El's hand, Mike grabbing El's other.

El smiled, as they walked to a house, happiness surrounding the three of them.

Even it was only going to be a couple hours before she had to go back to the cabin before Hopper does and discovers she went missing, she was glad to be back with her sister and the boy she loves.


	7. Together Till The End (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Mike, Jess, and El are in Chicago after the whole sparing Ray incident and decide to go home after a heated argument between Mike, Jess, and Kali making El see Brenner and El saying that their friends are in danger.

"Jane?"

Jess frowned when she didn't reply to Mike.

"El?"

She shot her head up towards him, making him sigh.

"Are you okay?"

Jane hesitated before shaking her head, hugging the flannel she borrowed from Hopper.

"I almost killed someone, Mike..."

"Yeah, but you didn't El," Mike says, smiling at her.

"Yeah, and we're SO proud of you. Remember that." Jess smiled.

Jane smiled at them, then dropped it when two figures stood at the doorway.

Mike and Jess looked up from where they sat on the bed, glaring immediately at Kali.

"Hi, sis." 

Jess turned to the other figure, her expression softening.

"Hey, Gabby."

"Can we come in?" Kali asked.

Jane shrugged, not seeing the harm.

Kali seemed to calm down after yelling at her on the car ride back to the hideout.

Mike tensed, grabbing Jane's hand, squeezing it gently.

"I was just like you, you know that?"

Jess looked at Gabby who rolled her eyes, causing her to furrow her eyebrows.

"But that's why I'm hard on you, because I see in you my past mistakes."

Jess scoffs.

"El doesn't need to-"

Jane holds her hand out to Jess, as if to say 'I got this'.

"They were kids," she says, squeezing Mike's hand.

"Does that excuse that man's sins? Were we not also children?" Kali asked.

"Maybe it doesn't excuse his sins, but that doesn't mean those kids should suffer the same way you girls did because you want revenge," Mike says, catching Kali's attention, her glaring at him.

"Where is this conversation going Kali?" Jess asks, causing her to turn her attention towards the girl.

"I remember the day I came to the rainbow room and you three were gone. Then, Gabby came back, but she couldn't go back to Hawkins. It wasn't safe. So, when my gifts were strong enough, I used them to help us escape. And we ran. We ran as far as I could. And it was there, far away, I found a place for us to hide. A family. A home."

Jane furrowed her eyebrows in sadness for Kali, while Jess and Mike looked up to Gabby, Jess' heart wrenching as she saw the sad look on her eyes, Mike frowning.

"Just like you and your policeman. But they couldn't help us."

Kali glanced at Gabby who had tears running down her cheeks, her own eyes watering as well.

She turned back to Jane.

"So, eventually, we lost them, too."

Jess got up and hugged Gabby, kissing the top of her head as Gabby let out a shaky breath.

"So, I decided that we play the part. To stop hiding. To use our gifts against those who hurt us."

Kali looked at Jane.

"You're now faced with the same choice, Jane. Go back into hiding with Michael and Jessica, and hope they don't find you or her and kill him," she says, nodding at Mike and Jess.

"Fight, and face them again."

Jane turned to Mike, clearly asking for advice.

"The choice is yours El. Whatever you want, we'll stick with you, we promise," he says, causing her to smile for a moment before a question popped in her head, causing her to look back at Kali.

"Face who?"

"The man who calls himself our father," Kali answered, causing Jess to freeze, letting go of Gabby to look at Kali incredulously. 

Mike was shocked too, looking at Jess with wide eyes.

Jane narrowed her eyes, shaking her head.

"Papa.Is.Dead."

Gabby widened her eyes at Kali, as if she realized what Kali was about to do.

"Kali Prasad, don't you fucking-"

Whatever Kali did, it was too late for Gabby to say her warning, since Jane's face paled, turning around, her eyes widening.

"El?" Mike asked, watching Jane stand up, tears forming her eyes.

"You're not real," she says, standing up.

"What are you making her see  _Ocho_?" Jess asks, her voice threatening.

Gabby looked at Jess and Mike and sighed.

Mike and Jess gasp when they suddenly saw Brenner, Jane walking up to him.

"All this time? And you haven't looked for me?"

"Prasad, stop it," Jess growled, Mike, walking to Jane, wrapping her hand around his as she stepped closer to the illusion of Brenner.

"Why?"

"El, it isn't real," Mike whispered.

Jane looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

"Because you thought I was dead?"

"Kali Prasad, I'm not fucking around. STOP.IT." Jess snarled at Kali who had an emotionless face.

"Or because you were afraid of what you might find?"

Jane squeezed Mike's hand tightly, out of fear.

"Go away."

The tears forming in her eyes had yet to fall.

Mike gasped when the illusion started walking toward them, pushing Jane back.

"You have to confront your pain. You have a wound, Eleven, a terrible wound."

"El, don't you dare listen to what the illusion says," Mike says, turning back to glare at Kali.

"And it's festering."

Jane fell back into the chair, ready to burst into tears.

"Last warning Prasad, STOP.IT." Jess hissed, glaring at Kali.

"Do you remember what that means? Festering?"

The illusion kneeled down in front of Jane, causing her to let a whimper escape her mouth, squeezing Mike's hand a bit tighter.

"It means a rot. And it will grow. Spread."

Jane closed her eyes, tears running down.

"Get out of my head."

"And eventually, it will kill you."

Jane let in a shaky breath.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" she screamed, tears running down, the lights flickering.

Kali exclaimed when she was suddenly pushed against the wall harshly, causing the illusion to disappear.

She looked up to see Jess glaring at her with hatred, blood running down her nose, Gabby staring at her with a disappointed look.

"Don't say I didn't fucking warn you," Jess growled, wiping her nose before turning to Jane who was sobbing.

Mike pulled her from the chair and they crumbled to the floor, Jane sobbing in his chest as he held her tightly.

Jane looked up when she felt Mike remove one of his arms to wrap around Jess, who hugged him and Jane, kissing her forehead.

They looked up to see Kali kneel down to look at Jane.

Mike hugged her tighter, glaring at Kali with hatred and anger in his eyes.

"This isn't a prison, Jane. You're always free to return to your policeman with Michael and Jessica."

Jess glared at Kali, narrowing her eyes.

"Or stay, and avenge your mother. Let us heal our wounds together."

Kali got up and left, leaving Gabby to sigh and kneel down to the three.

"She isn't wrong about needing to heal your wounds Ja...El."

Jane looked up at Gabby, the tension immediately loosening.

She felt safe around Jess' younger sister.

"But...I don't think this is the best way to do it from what I've seen. Not with hatred, but with love. And you have plenty of love with Mikey and Jessie."

The three smile at her, and she smiles back.

"I think...you guys should go back to Hawkins where everyone else is and heal there. No doubt they're worried out of their minds if you guys have been missing for a year."

Jane nodded.

"Thank you, Gabby."

Gabby winks at her.

Jess laughs.

"When did my baby sister became so wise?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know. Someone in this gang had to be."

"Come home with us," Mike says, Jane, nodding.

"We can be sisters, the three of us," Jane says, Jess grinning.

"I'll think about it. It's not easy leaving a gang after being in one for so long." Gabby says.

"Well, if you ever do want to come home on your decision, just know you'll be welcomed with open arms...from our party at least."

Gabby chuckled before leaving the room.

The three looked at each other before hugging each other again.

X

Jess sighed, looking at Jane.

"Ready?"

Jane nodded.

"Ready."

Mike watched as they held onto each other's hands, closing their eyes.

They squeezed their hands as they thought of happy memories.

_"She's our friend and she's crazy!"_

_"What can I say? We make a pretty good duo!"_

_"I'm glad you're back to being yourself again, Jess."_

_"Awesome. It was awesome."_

_"C-Compromise?"_

_"It's something that's kinda in between, it's like halfway happy."_

_"Once we fix it up, it's gonna be nice. Real nice. This is your new home."_

When they opened their eyes, they saw Hopper standing in front of some sort of machinery.

"That's where I was. It's a damn graveyard," he says.

Jess sighs, her mind drifting to...

"ABORT! ABORT!"

She turned to see Dustin yelling at someone, and from the sound of it, it was a Steve.

She heard more voices overlapping with his but, she didn't pay attention.

"DUSTIN!!"

Jane turned to see Jess running to Dustin who looked pressed against the wall.

"Jessie!"

"DUSTIN!"

"Is anyone there? Will? God! Anyone! Shit! We're at the old junkyard, and we're about to die!"

If he said anything else, it was unknown because Jess had tried to touch him, causing him to vanish.

That sent Jess into hysterics.

"DUSTIN!!! DUSTIN!!! DUSTIN, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Suddenly, they both were pulled from the void, causing Jess to glare at Mike.

"What the-"

Mike shushed them, all of them freezing when they heard banging.

"We're leaving back to home if we get out of here without getting caught, agreed?" Mike asked.

The girls nodded, following Kali who motioned for them to follow her.

X

"Jane! Michael! Jessica! Come on!" Mick yelled, pushing them all ahead as gunshots rung out.

"Come on, hurry!"

"Look out! Look out!

Mike and Jess covered Jane as they shrieked at every gunshot.

"Do something, Kal, and Gabby. Do something!"

Gabby closed her fists, closing her eyes as she squeezed Kali's hand.

They both opened their eyes, the gunshots stopping immediately.

Everyone except for Mike, Jess, and Jane got in the van.

"Jane, Michael, Jessica get in."

Jane looked to Jess, who immediately shook her head.

_"It's a damn graveyard."_

_"ABORT! ABORT!"_

_"DUSTIN!"_

She couldn't do that to Jess.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but we have to go back. Our friends..our friends are in danger."

Kali looked as if she was about to lose the most important thing that has ever happened to her.

Gabby looked at Jess and gave a sad smile.

'I'll come back one day.' she mouthed, causing Jess to smile sadly at her, both holding onto each other's hand for possibly the last time in a while.

"Your mother sent you three here for a reason, remember? We belong together. There's nothing for you back there. They cannot save you, Jane."

Jane looked at Mike and Jess and smiled.

The memory of Mike and Jess protecting her from the harsh winter in the dreadful month in the woods came strongly.

"You're wrong Kali. They have saved me. And now, I can save them."

She remembered November 12, 1983, where after she saved Mike and Jess from a possible death from jumping off the cliff, she was engulfed in a hug by Mike, Jess, and Dustin.

Her first friends.

She grabs onto Mike and Jess' hands, who kissed Gabby's hand before turning with the other two to run in the opposite direction.

Gabby bursts into tears, letting go of the defense they had to keep the guns from firing.

"Jane. Jane! Jane! Jane!"

Jane shut her eyes as she ran with the boy she loves and the girl she calls her sister, casting that name away.

She wasn't Jane.

She was El.

X

El looked out the window, squeezing Jess' hand as she had fallen asleep, taking a nap as they took a bus back to Hawkins.

Mike watched them from the seat across, knowing that they needed each other more right now.

"You alright sweetie?"

He looked up to see an elderly woman look at him.

He shrugged.

He didn't exactly know. It's been a wild three days.

"Mind if I join you?"

He shrugs, not minding or seeing the danger.

Besides, even if something DID go wrong, he's got Jess and El.

"So, where are you three headed? I noticed that you were looking after those two young girls. They your friends?"

He nodded, deciding to remain quiet.

"You guys heading to your parents I hope?"

He let a smile play on his lips.

"Not really. We're going to our other friends."

He looked at the girls, El laying her head on top of Jess', also asleep.

"We're going home."

X

Mike, Jess, and El walked to the Byer's house, Jess and El killing off the mini-demogorgons, Jess sending one through the window, causing yelling.

"Well...at least we know that they're here," Jess whispers, causing Mike to roll his eyes, smirking at her.

They walk to the door, El unlocking the door.

She opens the door, entering the house with Mike and Jess following from behind.

Everyone was here.

Hopper lowered his gun, shock in his expression as he took in their new outfits.

The three kids kept hard, determined faces...

That is until Lucas and Dustin walked up.

Mike dropped his expression to smile at them, El grinning at them.

Jess smiled at Lucas, and then her eyes landed on Dustin, who was staring at her in shock and awe.

She let her smile stretch wider, tears streaming down.

"Mike, El, Jess," Lucas says, running up to them, Dustin following behind him.

"Lucas! Dustin!" Mike laughed, hugging the boy who had the three engulfed in a hug.

El smiled as she hugged him as well, noting that he had gotten a bit taller.

Jess hugged him tightly, grinning.

Her eyes landed on Dustin as she removed herself from the hug.

"Jessica." Dustin gasps, still not believing it.

"Dustin!" Jess exclaims, hugging him tightly.

She let out a shaky sob as he hugged her back, tears running down.

They were together again.

And they will stay that way...

Together till the end.


	8. Vanquishing Her Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess faces her demons one last time.

They don't know how it happened.

But the Hawkins Lab was back in action.

But this time, The Party was going to make sure that it ends for good...

...Even if it means sneaking into it.

X

"Guys, this is a bad idea," Jess whispered, placing her hand on the ground, allowing vines to grow and tear the metal fence apart.

"Well, it WAS your sister's idea Hopper," Lucas says, causing Jess to smile.

"Which one?"

"The one who came back from the dead of course."

"Excuse me?!"

Jess laughs, wiping her nose.

"Well, it's true Gabby!"

"First of all, I was never dead! Those assholes separated us when the accident happened!"

"We had a funeral for you Gabs, so technically you did come back from the dead."

"Which side are you on Wheeler?!"

Jess rolled her eyes, crawling through the new hole.

"Listen, I love you guys, but PLEASE shut up!"

El giggled as she crawled after her, smirking at her sister.

Jess grins back, getting up.

"Let's do this."

X

Everyone was following El and Jess around the Lab, both clutching onto each other's hands.

El had more memories of this place than Jess, but this place had affected both of their lives.

Gabby wiped her nose, leaning on Max.

"You alright Gabby?" Max whispered.

Gabby looked at the redhead and nodded.

"Yeah, just a bit exhausted. I never had to use my powers for this long."

"Well, it has been an hour. Why don't you take a break?"

Gabby shook her head.

"And blow our cover? I can't."

Jess furrowed her eyebrows when she saw a room, the words S.E.011 on the door.

She reached for the knob, twisting it.

"Locked." She mumbled.

She glared at the door, unlocking it and opening it.

She wiped her nose as she walked it, freezing as soon as she walked in.

"Jess?"

She walked around the room, looking at the bed, multiple toys on the floor, and a picture on the bed table.

She whimpered as she walked towards it, seeing a picture of two girls with bloody noses, one grinning and hugging the other, who had a small smile and closed eyes.

"It's...my old room..."

The Party widened their eyes, looking at each other.

El gasped, her eyes widening at a drawing on the wall.

It had two stick figures, one with long hair and the other with none.

The stick figure with no hair had the number 11 over it, the other stick figure had Jessie over it.

"Uh...Jessica?"

Jess turned to her boyfriend, who held a binder full of files.

The binder cover read;

 

_**SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 011:** _

_**JESSICA VERA HERNANDEZ** _

_**BORN POWERS: AEROKINESIS, GEOKINESIS, FERROKINESIS, PYROKINESIS, FIRE BREATH, THERMOKINESIS, HYDROKINESIS, WATER MIMICRY, FREEZE BREATH** _

_**LEARNED POWERS: TELEKINESIS, BIOKINESIS** _

_**STARTED EXPERIMENT: AGE 3** _

_**ENDED EXPERIMENT: AGE 6** _

 

Jess shakily opened the binder, her breath catching at the photo of her.

Everyone was crowding her, watching as she flipped page after page, which talked about experiments she had successfully finished or failed to do.

She let out a shaky gasp at a picture of her getting punished, someone yanking her hair, her screaming out as tears streamed down her cheeks.

She quickly turned the page, shaking.

El widened her eyes, stopping Jess from turning a page.

It showed a picture of El standing in front of a crying Jess with bruises on her face and arms, her nose bleeding. She's glaring at someone.

 

_**The test subject 011 intervened Jessica Hernandez's punishment for failing the test on biokinesis under the permission of Dr. Brenner. She had pushed the worker with her telekinesis, saying 'No.' afterward. - January 12, 1976** _

 

"1976...we would have been 5," Jess whispered.

They heard footsteps, causing all of them to freeze, Gabby, holding out her arms, blood running down her nose as the footsteps got closer and closer.

Then two adults came in, making Gabby and Jess freeze up.

It was their biological parents.

Jess immediately covered her mouth, muffling her quiet whimper, shaking.

The boys and Max immediately had their death stares as the Hernandezs walked into the room, Dustin hugging his girlfriend protectively.

El had her fists clenched, but Gabby looked at her as if to say;

"Do anything and we're good as shit!"

So, they backed away, out of the room, with Jess' binder still in El's arms.

But, just their luck, the alarms started blaring.

"Shit! We're fucked!" Dustin exclaimed.

Jess yelped when she saw guards coming in, pointing their guns at them.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" she cursed, turning everyone around, only for more guards to come up.

She grabbed her Supercomm, turning to Hopper's channel.

•_••/•_ /_••• _••/•_/_•/_ _•/•/•_•

LAB DANGER

El was pushed behind Mike, protecting her from the front.

Jess had formed a fireball in her hands when-

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

She froze when her biological parents came up, the fireball vanishing.

The Party immediately pushed Jess behind them, all of them letting out a stream of threats and curses.

El tilted her head, slamming the adults into the wall harshly.

Jess was shaking, tears streaming down as they sent El a death glare, getting up.

Why was she scared?

Didn't she want to return all the pain they put her through for four years?

She walked up next to El, looking at her, grabbing her hand.

El looked at her, and she nodded at her, wiping her nose.

Jess looked at her abusers, and a memory flashed in her brain...

_"You're a little mistake."_

She slammed her mother into the floor harshly, making her scream in pain.

The Party became silent as Jess' nose bled, her free hand shaking as she lifted it up, glaring at her biological father.

_"No one loves you."_

She yelled, throwing her hand up, slamming him up at the ceiling.

She lowers her hand, allowing him to just fall.

The guards kept moving up, but El glared at them, knocking their heads together, knocking them all out.

Jess was sobbing, as she turned to her biological mother one last time before she knocked her against the floor again, this time knocking her unconscious.

She whimpered as the world went black for her, as she slipped into unconsciousness, completely drained.

 

X

Hopper was surely breaking the speed limit by how fast he was driving to the goddamn lab.

What were those kids thinking?

Lab? Danger?

What the hell?

A van driving past him reminded him that he wasn't alone.

He had called Dr. Owens for backup, to bring the 'Good Men' just in case they needed to put up a fight.

God, he hoped it doesn't result to that.

X

He pulled up in the driveway, running towards the building when he saw seven figures run out the building, all practically in tears, all of them huddling close to-

Is that Henderson?

"Hey!"

El turned, tears running down her cheeks.

Shit, her nose.

"Dad! It's Jessie!! She fainted!!"

Double shit.

He ran towards the group, now noting that it was Henderson that was carrying Jess, dried blood on her upper lip and ears.

"Who sent the Morse Code?" he asked, taking Jess from him.

"It was Jess, Chief. We were getting surrounded." Lucas says, looking at him.

"She was going to attack when..." Will started when he trailed off...

And Hopper was shocked to see Will Byers, the sweetest, kindest boy he's ever met, grow this furious, hatred look.

"Her abusers showed up." he snarled, glaring back at the lab.

"I wanted to kill them. I WANTED to. Right there." El whispered, glaring at the building that the 'Good Men' were now going into.

"The Hernandez's are there?" Hopper asked, grabbing his radio.

"Hey, if you see two adults with the names María and Alejandro Hernandez, arrest them immediately. They have a history of inflicting child abuse."

"Copy, Chief."

"We want to give them a piece of our mind...once you have them secure that is, sir," Mike says, looking at the Cheif.

"Look, kid, I can't exactly do that."

"Why not?! We WANT to pay everything back to what they did to Jessica! They hurt her!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Believe me, if I was able to, I would by all means necessary allow you kids to. But...you would have to related to-"

"Then use me, Hop."

Hopper turns to Gabby, who had been quiet until now.

"Gabby?"

"Look, as much as we don't like it, they're also my biological parents. Use me as an ability to give them a piece of their minds. Please, Hop?"

Hopper sighs.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do once we got them secured."

X

It was a month since then, and the boys, El, and Max were standing across the Hernandezs.

Gabby, who was watching from another room looked at Jess, who was shaking slightly.

"Glad I didn't kill them. Would have robbed my chance to see my friends and boyfriend yelling at those fuckers."

Gabby laughed, smiling at her.

"Believe me, they're going to do a lot more than that."

X

Mike stared at the adults in front of them, visibly shaking in anger.

_"L-L-L-Listen M-M-M-Mike, now's n-n-n-not a g-g-g-good time."_

_"Lo siento Mike, but, I can't come today. Something came up."_

_"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU GUYS!! THEY THREATENED YOU BOYS!! THEY...THEY WERE GOING TO KILL YOU BOYS IF I TOLD ANYONE!! I'M SORRY!"_

He gritted his teeth.

"Why?"

The adults said nothing, as if to provoke him.

"Why did you hurt her? Why did you almost kill her?" he asked.

María suddenly smirked.

"She was a mistake that needed to know her-"

"SHE WAS A NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN GRIEF!!" Mike yelled, Will holding him back from lunging forward and attacking the sick bitch.

"SHE HAD LOST HER SISTER AND YOU FUCKERS MADE IT WORSE BY MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY ABUSING HER!!" he roared, shaking.

El turned to Max, furrowing her eyebrows.

"'Mentally abusing'?" she whispered.

"It's kinda like physical abusing, but, instead, it's all thoughts. It's like someone telling you that you are unloveable, and no one will ever like you on a daily basis, and you start to believe them."

El widened her eyes, her lips parting, Max shrugging sadly.

"That's what it means."

El remembered times where she had been told that she couldn't do a certain experiment she failed on because she was weak when in reality, she was just stubborn to not do that experiment for a specific reason.

She turned to Mike, who was shaking with anger as María just smirked at him.

She grabbed his hand, causing him to look at her, calming down slowly.

She looked at the adults and slammed them both on the table telekinetically, causing the kids to flinch.

"You hurt Jessie."

The father laughs dryly.

"She hurt us first by not protecting Gabriella. But you wouldn't know that, would you Eleven?"

El flinched at that name, not being called that since she closed the gate.

"You're just a replacement sister."

"That's NOT true!" Lucas yelled.

It wasn't.

It disgusted him to no end that he once said that to Jess when it wasn't true then, and it isn't true now.

El clenched her fists, resisting the urge to snap his neck then and there.

The door opens, and the kids turned to see Jess standing in the doorway, anger building in her eyes.

She walked next to El, grabbing her hand.

"El isn't a replacement, you fuckers."

"Well, well. And speaking of the devil, the mistake has come." María says.

"Fuck off!" Dustin snarled, standing next to Jess.

"How's living as an orphan Jessica? No one to love you?"

Jess burst out laughing.

"'Orphan'? 'No one to love me'? What the hell are you talking about?!" she giggled, making her abusers smirks drop.

They didn't have that effect of making her whimper and cry anymore.

"I'm a Hopper now. Proudly one too. And, even before he adopted me, I had my family right here to fall back to when you left me to die." Jess says, grinning at The Party.

They smile back, only for them to drop when Alejandro scoffed.

"They just feel sorry for you."

"Excuse me?" Max, exclaimed, walking forward, Lucas holding her back.

"I mean, who would ever love a fucked up, broken, weak mistake like you?"

The Party started yelling, cursing and threatening him, causing Jess to smile.

"They seem to, by the looks of it Alejandro." she grins, crossing her arms.

"How can you be so sure, when you were the one who caused Gabriella to die?"

"You sure about that?"

Jess turns and sees Gabby, staring down her biological parents.

They went pale, María's lips parting.

"G-Gabriella?"

Gabby stands next to Jess, grabbing her hand and placing her head on her shoulder.

"Hola, María."

She smirked at how she flinched.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Knowing that I no longer care about the both of you. You both could be dead for all I care and I wouldn't shed a tear at the thought of it. Besides..."

Gabby smiles at El.

"I now have two big sisters and a new family since coming back here, and I'm really glad."

Jess turns to them again.

"This will be the last you'll see of us. Goodbye, María and Alejandro."

They turn around, and with The Party following from behind, Dustin staying back a bit to flip them off one final time, they left the horrible past behind.

 

X

When they walked outside, Jess turned to Gabby and burst out crying, overwhelmed.

"I-I can't believe I d-d-d-did that."

"Hey, it's okay. Come here." Gabby smiled, hugging her big sister, rubbing her back as she sobbed.

Suddenly, one by one, each of The Party's members joined in the hug, Dustin kissing her forehead.

Jess had FINALLY faced her demons and vanquished them...

...with the help of her new family.


	9. A Trio Of Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief summary of Jess, Mike, and El's friendship.

Mike and Jess didn't know when their duo sibling-like friendship would expand to a trio when El came into their lives on November 7, 1983.

Maybe it was when they first introduced to each other, both giving her nicknames; one for everyone to use (El), and one that only Jess could use (Once).

Or maybe it was when they showed her around Mike's house the day after, all three of them laughing as she tried using the La-Z-Boy.

Or maybe it was when they both taught her what a 'Promise' meant, reassuring her that they won't tell anyone that she didn't trust about her, which included Mike's mom.

Or maybe it was when they ran back to Mike's room after lying to his mom, checking on El to see if she was okay, her reassuring them with a 'Promise'.

Or maybe it was when they tackled her into a hug after showing proof that Will was still alive, both sobbing out their thank yous.

Or maybe it was when they both helped put on her makeup (Mike putting it on her and Jess guiding him through it) and helping her put her outfit on (Jess).

But, they knew that it turned into a more complicated relationship between the three as Mike and El saw Jess as a sister but each other as more.

After Mike's 'Pretty.' comment, Jess saw every opportunity to tease him about it, from how he blushed every time El held his hand or asked him a question, or simply how he just stared at her.

However, the three were inseparable.

The three would hold hands with each other, share secrets for just the three of them (Jess' powers), and hug each other when needed.

And she was there for them, that much was true when she saved them from a possible death after they jumped off the cliff to save Dustin.

But...of course...fate had different plans.

Plans to make the three of them suffer.

**_"Goodbye, Mike...Jessie."_ **

Separated from each other in different dimensions, the three screamed for each other, Mike and Jess for El and El for Mike and Jess.

While Mike and Jess were being lied to at his house, proving much difficult and stubborn to not tell them anything about El, squeezing each other's hands, El was watching through the other side of the window, tears streaming down when they noticed her, their eyes widening.

It won't be until a year later of Mike and Jess attempting to communicate and El listening to both their calls, that their paths will almost cross again, when Mike and Jess were at school, looking for Dart and El wanted to see them.

When she first found them, she felt an immense joy to see them, her lips trembling upwards only for it to drop upon seeing the new girl talking to them, making them smile.

Feeling the unknown emotion that was called Jealousy, she made the girl fall, making Jess panic, looking at her hands and feeling her nose, Mike checking on Max to see if she was alright.

Heartbroken, she left before Mike and Jess found out what caused Max to fall and realizing it wasn't Jess who did it, running out the gym doors to see if El was there, but they were too late.

A couple days later, in Chicago, El was checking on Hopper when she heard Mike screaming about a trap, Jess trying to push men out of their way, sobbing and screaming as well.

_**"IT'S A TRAP! IT'S A TRAP!!"** _

_**"NOT AGAIN! LET US THROUGH, WE CAN'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!"** _

El had run up to them in the void, opening her arms to hug them, to comfort them when they vanished, leaving her a rather rude wake-up call...

They needed her...NOW.

A couple hours later, she steps into the Byers house, a drop of blood running down her nose from killing the Demodogs, glaring at everyone who looked shocked...

Until Mike appeared from behind Hopper and Jess appeared from behind Dustin and another boy holding a bat, their eyes widened and their mouths parted.

El's glare softened at the sight of the two of them, Jess, who was clutching her arm, let the tears run down as she let out a shaky sob, smiling a big smile, while Mike let out a sigh in relief, dropping the trophy that was in his hand, a huge smile appearing on his lips.

El smiled back, the tears pricking at her eyes as she sighed, thankful that the days of being separated from each other was over.

Contrary to what many believe, it was JESS who hugged El first, limping as fast she could, (El noticed with horror that she was hurt), crying out her nickname for her as she hugged her sister tightly.

_**"¡ONCE!"** _

El sobbed, hugging her back, her emotions losing their control, clutching onto Jess' hair and overalls as she cried out her nickname for her sister.

_**"Jessie..."** _

Jess hugged her tightly before peppering El's face with kisses, tears running down both their faces, El letting out a wide grin before Jess let go of El for Mike's turn, wiping her eyes as the smile that hadn't left since El entered the house on seemed to widen as well as Mike and El grab ahold of each other, whispering each other's names as they hugged each other tightly as well.

_**"Eleven."** _

_**"Mike."** _

Someone in the room (Max) asked about El, but the three didn't notice as after Mike hugged El, he grabbed Jess' arm and dragged her into a long-overdue group hug between the three of them, the three of them letting out shaky laughs as they tightened their grips on each other.

Of course, they would soon be separated an hour later, but for now, they were going to soak in all the time they have together, while it still counts.


	10. Wheeler's Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike's parents meet El, and I mean REALLY meet El.

"Hey, Dad?"

Hopper looked up from the table to where El sat, picking around her food.

"Yeah, kid?"

She hesitated before looking at him.

"Can I meet Mike's parents?"

Hopper freezes, looking at the telekinetic girl.

"Why do you want to meet them?"

She bit her lip, playing with her bracelet.

"I want Mike to stop lying to his mama...Jessie too."

She took a deep breath before saying;

"I want her to know the truth."

If Hopper had any sort of panic, he didn't show it.

"Are you sure, kid?"

"Only if it's okay with Mike...and if Jessie's comfortable telling the full story too," El says, adding the last part knowing there was more to their story than the week of '83.

"I just don't want her to find out in another way."

Hopper sighed, noting that she made a fair point about Karen finding out in another way that might not come from a nice source.

There was still one problem though...

"Is Jessica ready to tell the story?"

El nodded, already having this talk with Jess.

"Jessie says that she wants to tell Mike's parents, someone outside the group that can be trusted."

Hopper nodded, understanding what Jess had said to El.

The two went through hell together from when they ACTUALLY first met to when they were separated from each other.

3 years old to when they were 7 years old.

Jesus, 4 years together before being separated.

There's a reason why he was worried Jess wasn't ready to tell.

The shit they went through sounded traumatizing and looked liked it when they finally shared it with the gang, both girls bursting into sobs while telling it, grabbing onto each other's hands.

"Okay, I hope you know what you're doing kid."

El grinned, jumping from her chair and hugging him.

"Thank you!"

X

Mike and Jess were doing their English project on a book series (A Wrinkle In Time to Jess' excitement) when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Mike yelled before his mother could ask, getting up, causing Jess to roll her eyes, knowing he just wanted to get an excuse to get away from the project.

Mike opened the door, widening his eyes when he saw El grinning at him.

"El?"

"Hi, Mike." she greets, looking behind him to see Jess reading a book and writing down on a separate sheet of paper.

She looks up and her eyes widened.

El grinned when Jess scrambled to her feet, running to the door, pushing Mike away and hugging not only El, but also Hopper.

"Sis! Dad!"

Mike snorted as he witnessed both El's and Hopper's faces turn red, El grinning as she hugged her back, Hopper patting her back.

"Hey kiddo, how's temporarily living with the Wheelers?"

Jess rolled her eyes.

"My brother has been annoying me." she sighs, smirking at Mike's shocked face.

"EXCUSE ME?! You're the one who keeps eating all the Eggos in the house! How have I been annoying you?!" Mike exclaimed, El giggling at how Jess rolled her eyes before flipping him off.

"Oh sure, real mature." Mike scoffs.

"So, what're you doing here El? Dad?" Jess asked, looking at them, ignoring Mike.

"I want to tell them," El says, noticing how the smiles vanished, Mike and Jess looking at each other before turning to El.

"Are you sure?"

El nodded, smiling at Mike.

"I'm sure."

"Michael? Who's at the door?"

Jess turned to see Mrs. Wheeler walk towards the door, El noticing how she shifted uncomfortably.

"Chief? And..."

Her gaze turns to the girl in front of him, completely oblivious to the fact Jess seemed extremely tense as she stared at her.

"Who's this?"

Mike looked at Jess who nodded, the playful banter the two normally shared disappeared completely.

"This is Jane...my girlfriend," Mike says, holding onto El's hand.

"My sister...adoptive one that is," Jess says, adding the last part.

"Girlfriend? Did I hear that right?" came Ted's voice from the living room, Mike turning red as his mother eyed him and Jess, still shocked at the latter saying that she was her 'adoptive sister'.

"Y-Yeah."

"Why haven't you two tell us anything? Especially you Jess, having an adoptive sister out of the blue, and she's with the Chief?" Karen asks, getting a shaky chuckle from the Colombian.

"Y-Yeah, um...she's Chief's daughter...as am I. He's our adoptive dad." Jess explains, looking to Mike for help.

"And we didn't mention about her because..."

Mike trailed off, not knowing how to finish.

"It wasn't safe," El says, causing the woman to look at her.

"How?"

Jess sighed before looking at Karen.

"You probably want to sit down for this. It's going to take a while to explain everything."

Jess tensed at the sight of Ted coming over to listen in to the conversation, Mike and Hopper as well.

She could count the many times she made Ted 'accidentally' drop his fork when he talked about the Government when she came to the Wheeler's for a meal in the past year before El came back, and even now with her having to temporarily live with them until Hopper got the 'okay' signal from Dr. Owens for her to start living in the cabin with him and El, and for her to finally be referred to as 'Jessica Hopper'.

El walked up to her and whispered to her;

"Can we tell them the whole story?"

Jess froze, turning to El with wide eyes.

"W-What?"

El simply looked at her, causing Jess to sigh.

"I mean...I'm ready to tell them but...are YOU ready? You were also affected about this when we regained our memories...and we haven't even remembered how we forgot each other."

El nodded, smiling at her.

"I'm sure."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

X

"Okay, so first thing's first; how long has this secret been going on? How long have you two been lying to us?" Mrs. Wheeler asked, not noticing how the three kids grabbed onto each other's hands.

Jess gulped before answering;

"Some of our visits that we said it was to Will-"

"Have been to Jane," Karen says, getting a nod from the immigrant.

"Like, over a half of those visits," Mike says, causing a nod from Jess.

"And why have you been keeping this from us?"

Here comes the hard part...

Mike gulps, squeezing El's hand before saying;

"It's how we met...that caused us to keep this a secret till now...she's hiding from the government...BOTH of them are."

Jess squeezed El's hand as Ted questioned;

"Why are they hiding from the government? What's Jessica have to do with this?"

Jess sighed before answering;

"You know those people that were looking for the girl with the shaved head?"

The two nodded.

"Well, now you get to meet her...and..."

She hesitates before looking at them in the eyes;

"You've already known her Social Experiment for over 6 years...plus, my biological parents were part of the government that was hunting her down."

"Oh my god..." Karen gasps, her fear increasing.

"So, she was hiding in our basement," Ted says, looking at Mike.

"Yes," Mike confirms.

"How...why..." Karen stammers, Jess, grabbing her hand.

"Mrs. Wheeler, she was out there in the cold and rain! We couldn't leave her there, she could've died from hypothermia! We had to bring her back, no questions asked."

"Why didn't you tell us about her? About this...experiment-"

"First of all Mr. Wheeler, I didn't even REMEMBER I was part of a Social Experiment for her until a week after all this happened!" Jess snapped, El squeezing her hand to calm her down.

"Besides, we wanted to tell you guys but El-"

Jess turned to Mike as soon as he slipped the nickname, but there was no taking it back now.

" _El_ told us it was too dangerous. If you called anyone about her, they would've heard. They would have come, got her, and kill us all." Mike says, before pausing and looking at Jess.

"Well...all except Jess that is..."

"Kill us? Why?"

"BECAUSE SHE WAS THEIR FUCKING LAB RAT!! THAT WAS ALL SHE WAS TO THEM!" Jess yelled, clenching her fist.

Hopper, who had been sitting next to the Colombian, place his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up and sigh, unclenching her fist.

"Lab rat? What do you mean by 'Lab rat'?"

Jess looked at El, the unspoken question in her eyes, El squeezing her hand, giving her a silent answer.

"Are you sure?"

El nodded, smiling at her.

"Promise."

Jess nodded, letting go of El's hand so that she can show the tattoo on her wrist, the 011 glaring at them.

"What the-"

"That's all she is to them. A number. Eleven." Mike says, turning to Jess, who clenched her fists.

"Once," she says, turning to El who widened her eyes at the old nickname.

She hadn't called her that since she revealed her real name, knowing that it just brought up painful memories.

El, however, kinda missed the nickname, it being the very first nickname she EVER received, even if it was just the Spanish translation of a number.

"And..."

"Here," Jess says, passing a pencil to her. "Use this. You first."

El nodded, glancing at Mike's parents before looking at the pencil.

"Please...don't freak out," Mike asked.

His parents' expressions shifted from confusion to shock as El lifted the pencil with her mind.

El turned to Jess and nodded at her, making the pencil fall before it stopped, still being levitated.

Karen let out a gasp when she realized that it was Jessica who now was making the pencil levitate.

"Holy shit..." she let out.

"Oh my god..." Ted mumbled at the same time.

She lowered the pencil, looking at the two with worried glances.

"El...Jessica...how-"

"We don't know," Jess answered before turning to Karen. "Our parents, her mom, and my biological parents...worked for them. I don't know about my mother but, El's mom...from what she told us...she didn't know she was pregnant with her. When she was born, they took her away from her and..."

Here comes the hard part...

"They introduced us to each other at a young age, 3 years to be exact, and we both went through a series of experiments with harsh punishments if we failed. We attempted to escape but..."

Jess let out a choked sob, tears running down her cheeks, catching Karen off guard.

"They found us and separated us with a fight. I don't know what they did to make us forget each other, but whatever they did, the 4 years I spent with El...vanished from my memory until we found her that week in November."

El sniffed, tears running down her cheeks.

"After that...I was alone...forced to train every day..." she mumbled, leaning on Jess for comfort.

"Oh my god, girls..." Karen says, her heart dropping at the mental image of the two girls being ripped away from each other at such a young age.

"Your parents..." Ted begins, before turning to Hopper for a more proper explanation.

"Was that MKUltra?"

"Yes," Hopper confirmed. "We don't know about Jessica, all she knows is that she was born in a lab in Colombia, before being immigrated here, but like Jess said, El's mother had no idea she was pregnant when she joined, but whatever they did to her obviously preserved down the line."

Ted processed the information he just heard with the things the government said.

"Sorry Cheif, Michael, but I still think we should tell th-"

Hopper never stood from his chair faster in his life.

"Finish that sentence, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Ted looked at him with wide eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"First of all, you're a hypocrite for wanting to call the government on El, but NOT on Jessica. Second of all, I'm her father, THEIR father. As a way of giving El a chance at a normal life, I've been listed as her father, and Jessica has been listed at her sister. As far as I'm concerned, we're family. So, if you even think of trying to ruin that for her, for BOTH of them after all that shit they went through together for 4 years, I will end you faster than you could blink. Do you understand?"

"I'm sorry chief," Ted hesitates. "But they told us full well that she is dangerous and would get us killed-"

"And _I'M_ not?! I _WOULDN'T_ get you guys killed?!" Jess snaps, glaring at Ted, who turned his attention to the freckled girl.

"For your information Mr. Wheeler, I don't just have telekinesis and biokinesis, which are powers I LEARNED in those 4 years with El. I was BORN with Elemental Manipulation, Plant Manipulation, Freeze and Heat Breath, and Water Mimicry. As far as I'm concerned, I'm MORE dangerous than El is. So yeah, you're a fucking hypocrite." she hissed, making the heat in the room increase as her anger boiled.

"Jessie, calm down," El whispered, relieved when the temperature came down to back it originally was.

"You've just heard that they'd put them together as experiments on their social cues for 4 years before being forced to forget each other, and keeping her locked up for the first 12 years of her life, torturing her into doing what they want, and you want to believe them?" Hopper questioned, secretly glad that Jess put Ted on the spot about her being the 'exception'.

Ted looked between the Colombian and the Cheif, both putting him on the spot on what he thought of the government and about El.

"I can't believe you, Ted!" Karen says, declaring her side. "How could you ever think of doing that? They're children!"

"I just want to protect my family, Karen!"

"Well, do as we say for once!" Mike finally speaks up, surprised at how long he managed to wait.

"They've saved my life from those assholes twice. First, they tried to run us all over with a van, the second was at the school the same day. They damn well would have shot Jess, Dustin, Lucas and I if it weren't for the two of them working together."

The Wheeler parents turned to look at the two girls.

"Is this true?" Karen asked.

"Yes," El responds, looking at Jess.

"That was when I was getting my memory back about the two of us being friends before all of this even started. Before I even met all the boys. I decided to help El with protecting not only the boys, but ourselves." Jess says, looking at Karen.

"They...tried to take me back. They knew Mike and Jessie were hiding me. The bad lady was about to shoot him, but..."

El hesitated, not wanting to tell her actions.

"WE killed them instead," Jess says, catching El by surprise on how she used the plural term.

"You two...killed them," Ted repeats.

"Yes," Mike says, nodding. "To protect us."

Silence lingered before Jess spoke up.

"We'd all be dead if it weren't for my sister."

"For BOTH of you." Mike corrects her, causing her to smile. "Don't forget, you helped save us too."

Ted watches as the girl that Mike has been friends with since the fall of '78, who now was considered dangerous, place a sisterly kiss on his cheek and on El's cheek, the latter grinning a huge grin at the gesture.

Would the government he's been praising this whole time, really lock up a child for 12 years, and make her forget a friend that she'd known for 4 years just to experiment on her? And would they really kill his own son, and his friends, just to re-capture this girl?

Well, it seems that the chief of police knows this story. Michael and Jessica seem adamant for us to believe the four of them. Besides, how else was he going to explain the floating pencil from earlier?

"I'm sorry," he begins with. "I just...I always thought we could trust our government, but..."

"It's okay," El says, quick to forgive. "You want to protect your family."

"Yes. Yes, I do." he agrees.

"So do I. I am dangerous to anyone who threatens us," El informs him, causing a smile to appear on all their faces.

"Oh, El, you don't have to-"

"Yes, I do." she cuts Karen off, despite Hopper's talk of 'manners'.

"Mike and Jessie saved my life. They were the first people to care about me without any questions. They were the first to give me a home."

Jess let out a shaky chuckle, the waterworks bursting again as Mike simply let his grin stretch wider.

"I love them, so I love you."

Karen smiles, tears brimming in her eyes as she walked towards El and hugged her.

"Oh, El." she places a kiss on top of her head. "I can see why Michael and Jessica love you."

Jess giggles while Mike and El blush, wiping her eyes from the tears.

"You're such a lovely girl and an amazing sister."

"Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler," El responds, blushing a bit brighter, her grin stretching wider.

"Oh, please, call me Karen," she informs her, El nodding.

Jess walked up to Karen, hugging her as well.

"Thank you for accepting her, Mama Wheeler."

Karen lets in a shaky breath at what she called her, a tear falling down.

She's heard Jess refer to the boys' parents by their last names, adding 'Mama' or 'Papa' behind them, but she always referred to her as 'Mrs. Wheeler'.

She wouldn't admit it but, she always felt a tiny bit jealous of the other parents for having the privilege of that nickname while she was still stuck at the formal greeting.

Apparently, all she had to do was accept her new adopted sister that apparently has powers.

"No problem sweetheart."

She turned to El.

"Thank you for choosing to meet us."

"Thank you for understanding me, for understanding US," El responds, grabbing Jess' hand.

"I was worried you'd...want us to stay away from Mike."

"What?" Karen blurts in disbelief. "God, no El! First of all, Jessica and Michael have been friends since the fall of '78. There's NO separating them even if I tried. Second of all, none of what you've been through is your fault. Michael and Jessica don't know this but...I've heard some of their calls when Jessica was spending the night here or having a sleepover with him. They were so...broken while you were missing. I've heard Jessica screaming in her sleep. I just hoped they'd recover eventually, but he didn't and Jessica..."

Karen looked to Jess, the image of Mike sobbing as he hugged her while she was in the hospital for self-harm and another image of Jess temporarily in a coma after her parents abused her coming up in her head, causing her to gulp.

El seemed to know what she was talking about, because she hugged Karen again as if to say; 'I know. I know and I was terrified as well.'

"They didn't recover, not until November, which is when I'm guessing you three saw each other again."

"Yes. "El confirms, smiling at the memory of their reunion and their group hug after they first hugged her separately.

"I know you mean everything to Michael and Jessica. They would've done literally anything to find you again. I wanted so much to help, but I knew there was nothing I could do."

"Mama Wheeler," Jess says, shaking her head. "You're helping now."

"Yeah mom, we couldn't be happier right now." Mike agreed.

"Oh, I know exactly how to make you two happier," Karen grins, causing the two to exchange confused glances.

"El, Chief, would you like to stay for dinner?"

El widened her eyes, as does Jess' as they both turned to see their dad's response.

"Oh, I would love to, especially since we haven't had our first family dinner yet," he says, referring to Jess. "However, I need to get to work soon. Thanks for the offer. I'm sure _somebody_ would definitely love that, though."

Karen laughs as the girls screamed in delight, running to Hopper and jumping on him, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sure that she would," she says, smiling.

"Thank you Dad!" they both exclaimed.

Hopper grins as he ruffles their hair.

"But, we're going to have a family dinner someday, right? Just the three of us?" Jess asked, knowing it still wasn't safe until they got the okay from Dr. Owens.

"Of course kid. That shouldn't even be a question." Hopper scoffs, causing the Colombian to grin at her telekinetic adoptive sister.

They both turned to Karen and hugged her, Mike joining in.

"Thank you so much mom!" he says, hugging her tight.

"See? Told you so."

X

"Thanks for letting us meet her, Cheif," Karen says to Hopper before he leaves.

"Thank you for having her, Karen, and for keeping Jessica here until it's safe for her to move in with El and I, and for her to stop using 'Hernandez' as her last name. When would you like me to collect El?"

"Oh, that's up to you. She'll never be thrown out of this house, as far as I'm concerned. Neither is Jessica."

Hopper smiles at that statement.

"Alright, nine-thirty good with you?"

"Absolutely. I'll see you then," she responds.

"You shall. Thanks again."

And with that, he makes his way to his truck, ready to get on with the day, knowing that El was safe with the Wheelers will make today much easier than the rest.

Karen turns to observe the three at the dining table, smiling at the sight of the Michael, Jessica and El destroying their plates with the hugest smiles she's ever seen Michael and Jessica wear.

She'll do anything to see those smiles every day.

And she's sure of it now, that she'll see them emerge more often.

She finds herself smiling as well.

**_Welcome home, El._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I was inspired by OTTSTF by their oneshot 'Motherly Trust'.


	11. Operation: Find 011

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Mike and Jess went out to find El?

Mike was talking to El through the Supercomm, Jess sitting next to him, her mind wandering a bit.

Mike sighed as the static played, no reply as usual.

"Nothing?"

Mike shook his head, turning to Jess, her forehead bangs had grown to cover her eyes.

"Nothing."

Jess frowned, looking down.

"She has to be out there Jess, she has to be," Mike mumbled, laying his head on her shoulder.

Jess furrowed her eyebrows, what Mike said playing in her mind.

"Well...then...why don't we go look for her?" Jess blurted, catching herself by surprise...

...And immediately thinking how dumb she was to not say it before.

"What?" Mike asked, looking at her.

"I'm serious! If she's out there, like you said, then, all we have to do is look for her! She has to be out there." Jess says, looking out the basement door.

"Jess...that's genius! How have we not thought of it before?" Mike says, looking at her.

"I don't know, but, it doesn't matter now. Let's go find El!" Jess says, about to leave.

"Whoa! Wait, Jess!" Mike says, grabbing her arm.

"In our PJs?" he asked her, gesturing to their Star Wars themed PJs.

Jess flushed red.

"You're right."

Mike suddenly froze.

"Wait...if El is out there in the cold..."

Jess furrowed her eyebrows before widening her eyes.

"Holy shit...she doesn't have anything warm on her! She only has the dress and converse we gave her! She has the flannel Hopper gave her but..."

Mike nodded, knowing that it wasn't going to do anything in this snowing weather that is December.

"Okay, get dressed into something warm, and I'll pack an extra jacket and gloves for El if we find her."

"WHEN we find her." Mike corrected her, causing her to nod.

"Yes, WHEN we find her."

X

Dressed in their winter clothes, Mike and Jess ran out to the woods, flashlights in their hands, Jess' backpack filled with an extra sweater, jacket, and gloves for El while Mike brought Eggo peanut butter sandwiches (somewhere in their packing, they realized with horror that El would not only be cold but also hungry) in his.

Jess breathed out, the fog coming out of her mouth.

"El?! Eleven?!" she called, looking around.

"El! El, are you out there?!" Mike yelled, looking around.

They ventured deeper and deeper into the woods, screaming out for El.

Jess heard a snap, causing her to gasp, turning to that direction.

Nothing, it was just a squirrel.

She sighed, shaking her head as she walked deeper into the woods, catching up to Mike.

X

They didn't notice when daylight appeared, both of them still searching, shivering in the cold.

"If we get hypothermia, I'm blaming you, Hernandez," Mike says, causing her to scoff, turning to Mike.

"You WANTED to come with me. You didn't HAVE to." she sassed back.

They suddenly realized that the morning birds were chirping, causing them to look around.

"It's daylight."

"Yup."

"We stayed up all night looking."

"Yes, we did."

"Your mom is going to kill us."

"We're so grounded."

They flinched when a chitter was heard, causing them to look up to see a squirrel a couple feet away, causing Jess to roll her eyes.

"Mike, come on, let's go back ho-"

Suddenly, the squirrel was flung against the tree, causing them to gasp.

Mike glanced at Jess' nose, which was bloodless.

So...that...would only mean...

Jess gasped when she saw a figure walk up to the squirrel, picking it up.

"El..." she whispered, causing Mike to look, his eyes widening as well.

El looked terrible; her eyes were sunken in, dirt covered her whole body, she was extremely thin, and...oh god...she was shivering.

She looked up and froze, dropping the squirrel.

"¿Once?" Jess asked, stepping up, her eyes watering.

"El?" Mike asked, stepping up to her.

El let in a shaky breath before she whimpered out;

"Mike? Jessie?"

Jess and Mike let out huge grins before they ran towards her, throwing their arms around the girl.

El gasped, trembling as she hugged them as well.

"Real...you are real..." she sobbed, hugging them as tight as she could.

Jess pulled from the hug, kissing El's cheek, not minding how freezing it was.

"Of course we are El, why wouldn't we be?" Mike asked, placing his gloved hand on her cheek, the first feeling of warmth in a really long time.

Jess pulled off her backpack, unzipping it to pull out a sweater, handing it to El.

"Put this on."

El took it, gasping at the warmth in her numb fingers.

She put it on over the dress, immediately enjoying the warmth it gave her.

Mike grabbed his backpack, unzipping it and pulling up an Eggo sandwich, handing it to El.

God, she was going to start crying again.

She takes the Eggo sandwich, smiling shakily at Mike.

Jess sighed as she placed the spare jacket on El's shoulders.

"Come on, let's head back to my house. And don't worry, my parents are off on a business trip. They're not in the house...not for a couple weeks." Jess says, adding the last part when El widened her eyes in fear.

"We'll stop there, get you warmed and cleaned up and we'll see what happens from there."

X

On their way there, El had devoured all six Eggo sandwiches that Mike brought along and was wearing the gloves Jess brought along for her, warming her hands.

Once Jess found the key to the house in her backpack, they walked in, El gasping at the warmth of the house.

"Okay, El. Welcome to my house."

El looked around, her eyes wide as she looked around her sister's house...

Wait...

"Not 'home'?" she asked, causing Jess to scoff, rolling her eyes.

"Of course not! Mike's place is 'home' for me." she says, smiling at the freckled boy who smiles back.

El smiled, following Jess' and Mike's lead to upstairs, looking at the family pictures.

She noticed that some of them contained four members, rather than three like most of the pictures.

She also noticed that they looked happier in the ones with four members, rather than the others, which only looked tense.

Jess showed her the bathroom to her room (which El awed at how 'Pretty!' it looked), teaching her where the water turned, which direction turned to hot and which turned to cold.

Jess left the bathroom, closing the door until a small amount was still open, remembering the first time El had communicated with them.

She turned to Mike, who was sitting on her bed, looking at a picture.

"Mike?"

He looked up to Jess, then back at the picture.

"I wonder how she would have thought of her."

Jess frowned, knowing he was talking about her younger sister, Gabby.

"Well...I think...she would have loved El." Jess says, sitting next to him.

"Yeah, she probably would. Though...I think she would ask ALOT of questions." Mike chuckled, smiling at Jess who laughed.

"Yeah, especially about her tattoo," Jess says, remembering Gabby's fascination with tattoos when she was still alive.

Mike yawned, his eyelids fluttering closed.

He laid his head on Jess' shoulder, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Sleepyhead." she sighed, looking at him and lifting him up from the edge of her bed with her powers, the blood running down her nose as she did so.

She placed him down properly on the bed, wiping the blood from her nose.

"Jessie?"

Jess looked up to see El at the door, before realizing what she needed.

"Oh! Right!"

She goes to her drawers, pulling some clothes for El, handing them to her.

El grabs them before looking to Mike.

"Tired?"

Jess nodded before yawning.

"Yeah...we...were up all night...finding-"

"Jessie, sleep," El says, looking to the bed.

Jess opened her mouth to protest, but nodded, slumping forward.

"Y-Yeah...I'll go do that."

El smiled before leaving back into the bathroom to change.

Jess turned to the bed, pulling the cover over her and Mike, laying down and falling asleep immediately afterward.

When El finished changing, she looked to see Mike and Jess fast asleep, Mike snoring softly.

She crawled on top of the bed, laying in the middle of them, ducking under the covers as well.

She freezes when Mike turned over, wrapping her in a hug in his sleep.

She smiled, yawning as well before falling into a warm slumber as well, getting the best sleep for the first time in a long time.

When they all wake up, they'll find themselves all hugging each other tightly, afraid that they'll disappear into smoke.

Operation: Find 011 was a success.


	12. Last Talk Before Ending It All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and El talk before she goes to close the gate. Confessions and promises are made, while tears are shed.

"Let's go outside for a bit."

El turned to look at Mike, who, once again, looked broken.

She nodded, taking his hand, still reassuring him that she was here.

That she was back.

They walk outside, looking out at the black sky.

"I saw," she whispered, looking at him, two tears falling from her black eyeshadowed eyes, them running down her cheeks.

He looks at her, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Jessie...doing that to her arms, getting hurt from her mama and papa, and you...jumping off the cliff..." she says, causing Mike to widen his eyes, his lips parting, tears streaming down his cheeks now.

"I wanted to go back...to stop you two-" she says, her voice cracking.

"No, El, it's not your fault." Mike quickly says, turning to her, grabbing her shoulders.

She breathes in shakily.

"Jessica and I, we...we were stupid, beyond incredibly stupid. We just wanted to end all the heartbreak and pain we were feeling and instead of coming to our friends or each other, we resorted to worse situations. I'm so glad Jess was there to save me like you did but...I made her cry El. I made her feel worse." Mike says, shaking his head.

El wipes his tears, her frowned lips trembling.

Mike holds onto her hand on his cheek and places a soft kiss on it, rubbing it softly.

They look at each other, El lowering their joined hands, squeezing it lightly.

"Just...be careful, alright?" Mike asked, looking at her, a lone tear running down his cheek.

"I can't lose you again...WE can't lose you again," he says, his voice cracking as he repeats his statement, making sure to include the girl they saw as their sister.

"You won't lose me. Neither of you will." El reassured him, squeezing their joined hands.

"Do you promise?" Mike asked, holding her gaze.

"Promise," El says, looking at his brown eyes.

She leans in, tugging at their joined hands, pulling him a bit closer, their noses touching as they leaned in for a goodbye kiss.

"El."

El turns to see Hopper, a bit annoyed that he interrupted their moment.

"Come on, let's go. It's time."

She turned back to Mike who nodded, whispering; "Okay."

She, squeezes his hand one final time, silently saying;

"I promise I'll come back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAAAAAT?! I POST A PURELY MILEVEN ONE-SHOT?! THAT JESSICA DOESN'T APPEAR IN?! I mean, yeah, she's mentioned BUT SHE'S NOT INTERRUPTING OR PART OF THE CONVERSATION!! HOPEFULLY, I CAN WRITE MORE ONE-SHOTS LIKE THIS!! AND HOPEFULLY, THEY'RE LONGER!


	13. You Can Trust Me, Okay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Nancy found out about El earlier in S1?
> 
> In which Nancy finds out about El the day before Will's funeral.

El was laid across on Mike and Jess, all fallen asleep with Jess' head on top of Mike's shoulder and his head leaning on top of her head.

They had a long day at school since from the ceremony for Will, to discovering he was actually alive through El channeling his voice through the Heathkit.

Lucas and Dustin had left back to their homes an hour ago and three kids were so exhausted that they found themselves taking a nap.

"Mike you little shit did you-"

Mike jolted awake when he heard Nancy's voice, his eyes widening when he saw her standing on the stair to the basement, staring at the blonde girl that was laid on him and Jess.

"Nancy...I can explain," he says, trying not to wake up the girls, but Nancy had other plans.

"Who the hell is that Mike?!" she yelled, causing Jess to moan and El to stir awake, both turning to what caused the noise, both jumping in shock, El falling onto the floor, her wincing at the hard impact.

"El! ¿Estas bien?" Jess exclaimed, getting to her, sending Nancy a glare-

Wait.

Shit!

Her head snaps to Nancy again, her jaw dropping.

"Fucking sh- Nancy!" she sputtered, helping El up, gripping her hand.

"Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?!" Nancy exclaimed, still shocked by the new girl, especially since Mike refused to talk to any girl that wasn't Jessica.

"Nancy, this is El," Jess says, sending a panicked look towards Mike who reciprocated the look.

El waved, trying to hide the fact that she was scared.

"Is that MY dress?" Nancy exclaims, noticing the pink dress El wore.

Jess visibly shrunk.

She was NEVER good with confrontation.

Especially with her parents-

No.

Don't you DARE go there, Jessica Vera Hernandez.

"Yes." El suddenly speaks up, causing Mike and Jess to turn to her.

"She didn't have anything proper to wear Nancy!" Mike speaks up, causing Nancy to glance at her little brother.

"Okay, can someone PLEASE explain to me what the hell is going on?!"

"We found her in the woods!" Jess blurts before covering her mouth in horror.

Shit!

Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit.

"What?" Nancy asks, looking at El, who looked at Jess with a curious gaze on to why she reacted that way.

"El...can we tell her?" Mike asked El, trying to calm down from the fact they had been caught.

El looked at Nancy and then back to Mike.

"Yes."

X

"So, let me get this straight; You two, along with Dustin and Lucas found her in the woods when you were looking for Will, brought her here, gave her clothes and a place to sleep?" Nancy says, getting the first part of their information into her brain.

"Yes, we found her out there in the woods, but we couldn't just LEAVE her there Nance! It was cold and not to mention, RAINING! She could have died from hypothermia!" Jess says, causing Nancy to hold out her hand out to her.

"Listen, I get THAT, alright? I mean, what type of cruel person would just leave her there?"

"Lucas," Mike mumbled, still upset about what he said after he had given El clothes the first night.

"But what I DON'T get is that you have POWERS? How the hell-"

"Telekinesis, Nancy," Mike says as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

Well...actually...

El hadn't exactly SHOWN Nancy her powers.

El, probably realizing the same thing, looked to the Millennium Falcon and made it fly, causing Nancy to gasp, her eyes widening as it flew towards her and rested on her lap.

"Holy shit."

Nancy looked up at El, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Don't ask her how or why she has these powers, Nancy. Even WE don't know. Besides, aside from bad men are after her, and will kill anyone who helps her, we don't know much about her past...aside from it being a shitty one." Jess says as Nancy opens her mouth.

Nancy frowned, looking at El.

"Who did your makeup? Because SOMEONE used my makeup supplies." Nancy asked, catching the three by surprise.

"Mike," El says, looking at the freckled boy, causing him to duck his head down in embarrassment.

"Huh...not bad Mike." Nancy complimented after studying El's face.

"You're not going to tell your parents are you?" Jess asked Nancy, grabbing El's hand in worry.

"Don't worry guys, I won't. But, there is something I do need to ask El."

El looks at Nancy, her eyebrows furrowing.

"My friend...Barbara...she was taken as well...by this thing that took Will." Nancy explained, causing the three to look at each other with wide eyes.

"I was wondering...if you could contact Will...could you see if...Barb is...out there?" Nancy asks, her eyes begging.

"Yes," El says, smiling reassuringly at her.

"But, not today Nancy. She's really drained. Took all her energy just to let us hear Will through the Heathkit." Mike quickly says, causing Nancy to look at her brother.

"Oh, of course! I mean, I would like to know if she's okay as soon as possible but, of course, if this thing is from another dimension like you said then...I don't want you pushing yourself too much, alright El?"

El smiled and nodded.

"You can trust me, okay? I'll keep this a secret from our parents, I promise."

"You better not break it Nance. El's really passionate about promises." Jess says, a bit of bitterness in her voice when she said that.

Nancy looked at Jess and sighed.

"Jess...I...I'm sorry about what I said about you being a 'Colombian Whore'...I didn't mean it. I was just being a complete bitch."

Jess softened her look, smiling at her.

"Yeah, you were. It's okay, I forgive you."

Nancy grins and hugs Jess, Jess grinning as well.

Nancy turned to El again and said;

"If you need to borrow any of my old stuff again, feel free to use them. Clothes, makeup, you name it!"

El smiled at Nancy, feeling this bond that she only had felt with Jess with her.

"Thank you."

Nancy winks before walking up the stairs.

"Well, that was NOT how I expected today to end," Jess says, turning to the two.

"Me neither, but, honestly? I'm kinda glad it did." Mike admits.

"Me too." El agrees, causing Jess to laugh and hug the two tightly.

They had a new ally with them.


	14. “I’m gay, Jess.” “And I’m bisexual Will, your point?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will comes out to Jess, who surprisingly also comes out to him as well.

"Hey, Jess?"

Jess turned from her boyfriend, her smile stretching.

"Hey Will! What's up?"

"I..uh.."

Will hesitates, not sure how to ask her to talk to him alone, biting his lower lip.

Jess noticed his discomfort, making her turn to Dustin and say;

"I'm going to talk to Will, see you later okay?"

"Yeah, Jess! See you soon."

She placed a kiss on his cheek, before motioning for Will to join her.

Will sighed in relief, glad that she was able to understand what he wanted to say but was too tongue-tied at the moment to really say it.

He followed her out the school to the clearing, where only a few students were, but not too many for them to overhear their conversation.

"What's up?" Jess asks, the smile reappearing in her features.

Will bit his lip, playing with his fingers.

"You know what...this is stupid. Never mind I-"

"Will," Jess sighs, pinching her nose. "How many times do I have to remind you that you can tell me anything? That you can trust me? Whether it's a secret or a problem, you can tell me?"

Will glanced at the Colombian, scars, freckles, and all, patiently waiting for what he wanted to tell her.

"I-I'm gay," he whispered, watching as her eyes widened slightly.

"Oh...when did you know?"

He bit his lip, shrugging.

"For a while now."

Jess nods, looking at the side.

Will hesitates, expecting the worse before she suddenly grins at him.

"Cool! Anything else?"

He blinks, like he's shocked at her casual acceptance.

"D-Did you hear me? I'm gay, Jess."

"And I'm bisexual Will, your point?"

Now it's his turn to widen his eyes, his jaw dropping.

"What?!"

She laughed, grinning.

"Since I was three if you're wondering. My first crush AND kiss was El."

His confusion vanished, a smile on his face.

"Really? How'd that go since..."

She smiled, knowing what he meant, the effect of the lab had plagued them in ways that they couldn't bring it up explicitly.

"The biological fuckers actually were okay with it when the kiss happened, and protected us from getting 'punished' by Brenner. Honestly, at the time, we were just experimenting what my biological parents did in front of us from time to time; brushing back a loose strand of hair behind an ear, singing to each other, cuddling, and eventually, kissing."

"But, you caught a crush on her."

Jess nodded.

"Sadly, we got separated before I could confess anything, and forgot all about her until last year when...you know."

Will nods, knowing what she meant.

"It's okay though. I just see her as a sister now. But who knows, in another universe maybe..."

Will nods, smiling at her.

"What about you? Who was/is your crush?"

Will freezes, looking down.

"Mike."

Jess' smile vanished, empathy evident in her features.

"Oh..."

Will shrugs, smiling at her.

"It's whatever though. He's happy and, I really like El. She's like a sister to me and, she makes him happy."

Jess smiled, hugging him.

"Thanks for telling me, Will. Happy Pride Month."

Will smiled, returning the gesture.

"Thanks for telling ME Jess and, thanks for understanding. Happy Pride Month."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE!! In honor of the start of June, here's Jess and Will coming out to each other, him as gay and her as bisexual. And yes, Bisexual Jess is canon.


	15. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Triangle AU and Post-Gate...that's all to say about this overfilling fluffy oneshot.

Mike had been pacing up and down the living room of the Byers' house since coming back from the tunnels, his eyes darting to Jess every now and then.

Gabby had given her an ice pack from the freezer, which had melted but Jess had refrozen the moment she grabbed onto it, placing it in her chest, where the vines had been extra tight on their grip on the girl when she was suddenly pulled to the ground when they were escaping.

Mike closed his eyes, squeezing his fists at the memory of her screaming out to him, the vines twisting and tightening around her body, thankful that Steve had jumped back in and saved her from the death of suffocation caused by a vine wrapping around her neck.

Jess caught his stare, furrowing her eyebrows before standing, wincing slightly at the pain before walking towards him, catching his attention.

"Jess, you need to rest," he says, causing her to glance at him all while tilting her head slightly.

"Mike, I'm okay. It still hurts a little, but, I'm still here. Okay? You've got nothing to worry about. You won't lose us."

Mike blinked at her suddenly not just referring to her but to the other girl in their lives.

The other girl they BOTH fell in love with.

The one who left to close the gate.

"I know you're scared, believe me, so am I but..."

She hesitated before grabbing his hands and squeezing them.

"I KNOW she'll come back. I mean...it's El for crying out loud! She can do this."

He bit his lip before looking at her blue eyes.

"Promise?"

She smiled pressing her forehead against his.

"Promise."

She then glances if anyone was watching, seeing they were the only ones in the room at the moment before pressing a soft, loving kiss on his lips, shutting her eyes as he cupped her face, sealing that promise.

They pull apart, smiling at each other, blushing as they still get flustered every time they kiss each other, especially after making promises as big as this one.

Headlights appeared, causing them to look out the window to see Jonathan's car pull up, causing not only them, but the rest of the Party ran towards the door and outside.

When they see Will, Jess cried out in relief and throws her arms around him, gentle with her touch, yet tightening it in a protective manner still, especially as Will hugs back, the other boys joining in the group hug.

Gabby stays away, biting her lip nervously before a figure stands next to her, causing her to look to see Max.

"Why aren't you going to say hi?" she questioned the young latina, her blue eyes darting down to meet her green ones.

"...I guess I'm just nervous. It's been four years since the accident and..."

"Why don't you just say 'hi' and see for yourself?"

Gabby looked at Max before glancing at the group hug and walking towards them.

"Will?"

Will looks up from the group hug and gasps, eyes widening.

"Gabby?!"

He turns to Jess and she laughs, wiping her tears before nodding and grinning.

"Yeah, she's alive and back."

Will quickly removed himself from the group hug, rushing towards Gabby and hugging her, letting out a soft sob of happiness.

Gabby let out a sob, hugging him back tightly, the gang rejoining for a group hug, the hug reminding them of what it was like for the Party before the accident and before the Demogorgon and the Upside Down, and everything that happened in the past year.

For a moment...the boys and Jess were eight years old and Gabby was six years old.

X

Jess and Mike were sitting on the steps outside, sharing a blanket, squeezing each other's hands.

Jess had fallen asleep, her head laying on Mike's shoulder, her hair falling on her face.

Mike, however, was still wide awake, so he was able to hear the door open, causing him to turn to see his sister Nancy walking towards the two and sitting next to him.

"I called Mom. Told her we were going to stay at the Byers house for the night."

He nodded, looking out to the driveway.

"Thanks."

Nancy smiled at him, before asking;

"So...you, Jess, and Eleven huh?"

Mike froze, glancing at Nancy with wide eyes as she laughed.

"It's kinda obvious Mike and, don't worry...I think it's amazing."

Mike opened his mouth when headlights appeared, causing him to turn to see Hopper's Blazer, Jess stirring from her slumber, rubbing her eyes and widening them when she saw the Blazer, standing up.

The Blazer stops and the two ran towards it, Hopper getting out.

"I-Is she-"

"She's fine. Just knocked out of it."

Jess swallowed as her eyes darted to the passenger side of the car, Hopper opening the door and lifting a figure out of the seat, Mike freezing up beside her as it revealed to be El (who else?), horror in his expression at the veins popping against her forehead, the dried blood on her cheeks, eyes, and her lips.

_**"MIKE!! MIKE!!"** _

He snaps out of it when Jess rushed to her, brushing back the strands of hair that escaped the gel, glancing at Mike who immediately ran towards the door, pushing past a watching Nancy, opening the door as Hopper walked past him with El in his arms, Jess following behind, looking at Mike with worry in her eyes, a feeling that he shared as they held onto each other's hands again, following Hopper into the living room where he laid El, ignoring the chatter of the rest of the Party.

Jess felt someone tap at her shoulder and she turns to see Gabby holding a damp cloth, a small smile on her lips.

Jess smiled gratefully at her little sister, kissing her cheek before rushing back to El, Mike holding onto her hands.

Mike watched as she wiped away the blood with ease, leaning her head onto his, the chatter around them silencing as they watched the two with wide eyes, Hopper rolling his eyes at the dumbstruck tension in the room.

Honestly, how was this not obvious?

Jess felt someone wipe her cheek, turning to see Mike holding out his hand with a tear drop running down his thumb, causing her to wipe at her eyes, feeling the salty water smear at her hand.

She turns back to El and placed a quivering kiss on her forehead, shutting her eyes.

**_"No one can hurt you now, okay Once?"_ **

X

As Hopper moved El to Will's room, he turned to see the two teenagers follow behind him, causing him to curse in his head.

How did his girl end up with a boyfriend AND a girlfriend?

'Before she was even your girl, to begin with.' a voice sneered in his mind, as he placed her down on the bed.

He turns to the teenagers, Wheeler opening his mouth, probably demanding that they both stay here when;

"On the floor and keep the door open. That goes for the BOTH of you."

Wheeler closes his mouth, shocked while Hernandez grins, running to him and hugging him.

"Thanks, Papa Hopper."

Hopper blinks, surprised she still decided to call him that, but patted her back regardless, leaving the room, rubbing his forehead.

Jesus, he's going to have a hell of a time with the three of them in the future, he knows it.

X

As they laid on the floor, glancing up at the bed with their shared blanket and pillows, Mike and Jess snuggled up together.

"I can't believe she's here," Jess whispered, her eyelids slowly drooping, exhaustion and want to escape the pain she still felt from the demodogs in the lab and the vines in the tunnels pulling her towards slumber.

Mike remained quiet as Jess' soft breaths signaled him that she was asleep, his eyelids drooping as well, not before whispering;

"Me either."

X

When El woke up, she groaned at a painful headache that greeted her, her eyelids opening to reveal an unfamiliar surrounding.

She freezes, attempting to get up, wincing at the dull ache of her muscles, before realizing;

This is Will's room.

Memories from the night appeared and she grinned at the realization that she did it!

She closed the gate!

She protected Hopper, her friends, Mike, Jessie-

Her eyes widened.

Mike! Jessie!

She turns to look to the side of the bed and freezes again, only to see Jess and Mike snoozing softly, the distance between them signaling that one or they both had moved in their sleep.

She felt tears prick at her eyes, getting out of the bed and softly stepping over Mike, sitting in the middle of them, laying down, turning to see Mike's sleeping state, his face completely relaxed, dark circles under his closed eyelids.

She reached out to his face, tracing the freckles on his cheeks.

He furrows his eyebrows, before relaxing his features, leaning to her touch before his eyelids opened, revealing his brown orbs.

The gasp that hitched in her throat is unnoticed as Mike's eyes widened, his lips parting.

"Mike," she whispered, her lips stretching into a grin.

"El."

She watches as Mike reached for her face, his fingers caressing her cheeks softly, tears forming in his eyes as he let out a shaky breath.

"You're really here."

She let her grin stretch wider as she pressed her forehead against his.

"So are you."

They shared a shaky laugh as they held onto each other's hands, intertwining their fingers, tears running down their cheeks.

El hugs him, smiling as he hugged her back, burying her face in his chest, letting out a shuddering breath.

She was here.

He was here.

They were here together.

A soft hum from behind her reminded them they weren't exactly alone, causing them to giggle.

"She sounds peaceful," El whispered, not wanting to wake Jessie up, though she would like to say hi to her again.

"I mean, she has to be. She's been exhausted these past few days."

El hummed, knowing what he meant from what she's seen when she went to see Jessie, the dark circles under her eyes growing darker and darker each day.

Mike yawns, and El looks up at him.

"Mike, sleep."

He freezes up, opening his mouth to protest when El pressed her finger against his lips.

"I'm not leaving you...or Jessie ever again."

Mike's eyelids drooped slightly, El lowering her finger from his mouth as he whispered with a cracked, soft tone;

"Promise?"

El nodded.

"Promise."

She glanced at his lips, remembering doing something with Jessie at the lab when they promised to see each other after a test...plus she's seen Mike and Jessie doing the same thing sometimes.

She leans upward and presses her lips against his, her eyes shut closed as he kissed back, his hands went to cup her face, gently caressing her cheeks.

They fall asleep in each other's arms, smiles on their faces.

X

When El wakes up, it's still dark out, but the clock reads 2-0-0 AM, so it's the next day.

And when she opens her eyelids, she lets a gasp when she's no longer faced to Mike but to Jessie, who also had moved in her sleep.

She lets a trembling smile grace her lips, reaching out to trace Jessie's freckles (she finds it funny that the boy and girl she fell in love with both have freckles)...

And stopped at the scar on her right cheek, her smile fading into an angry frown.

Jessie didn't have a scar on her cheek last year in that week in November.

She leaned in to kiss it, something she wanted to do since the day Jessie removed the bandages on her healed face and revealed the new, healed scar.

Jessie let out a soft whimper, El leaning back, in fear she had upset her...

When Jessie's expression immediately softened, her lips stretched into a lazy smile, nuzzling her face towards El's hand.

El let out a relieved sob, a few tears running down her cheeks as Jessie's eyelids fluttered open, her blue orbs meeting her brown ones.

Jessie's eyes widened, her gasp getting caught in her throat, her lips parting.

" _¿Once?_ "

El smiled waterly.

" _Hola_."

Jessie let out a shaky sob before wrapping her arms around El, hugging her tightly, a smile gracing her lips.

El sobbed, hugging her tightly as well.

**_"It's okay Once...I'm right here. Just concentrate."_ **

Jess pulled from the hug, pressing her forehead against El's, cupping her face, stroking her cheek, El leaning to her touch.

"You're here!"

El smiled, reaching to wipe the tears from Jess' cheeks.

"I'm here."

Jess let out a shaky laugh before pressing her lips onto El's, shutting her eyes as El kissed back, a smile forming on her lips.

When they pulled apart, El nuzzled her face in the crook of Jess' neck, Jess pressing her cheek on top of her hair.

They quietly fell back asleep, El smiling when she felt someone hug not only her but also Jessie from behind, sighing contently.

Yeah...she was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I PROMISED myself (and you guys) that I'll post something Triangle AU'd here. Just needed to find inspiration. Hoped you liked it!


	16. DRAFT: Memories Reborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What inspired me to make Jess have powers.
> 
> Originally they were going to be together for 1 year and when they were nine.

Jess sat across from Eleven, the cloth in her hand a bit intimating.

The visions she kept having been always about a little 9-year-old girl with long, curly brown hair who always called her 'Jessie'.

She didn't think much of it as she thought it was probably old memories from when she got amnesia when she was nine years old.

That is, until, it showed the same girl with a shaved head and her arm showing _011_.

Not to mention, Eleven had been getting them too.

"Jessie?"

She looked up, Eleven watching her, fear in her eyes.

She was scared too.

"Let's do it."

X

Eleven was in the void, watching Jess look around.

It was weird for someone to be able to be in the void and be able to SEE and FEEL her without them vanishing when she touches them.

"It's like a void...is that what you call it? The void?" Jess asked, Eleven nodding.

"Yes."

"Cool."

They looked at each other, fear wracking through their veins.

"Ready to find out what these visions mean?"

Eleven nodded, looking at Jess' hands.

She grabs the one with the charms bracelet that Mike and she also had, gasping when a memory appeared.

It was her when she was nine, her head yet to be shaved, looking at Papa who was talking to her.

"Eleven, we're going to do another experiment...however, this is a bit different. This experiment is with another girl and she's not like you. At least...not yet."

Another memory appeared.

There she was again, except, another girl was there, freckles painted across her nose and cheeks, a plush lion in her hand.

"Hi...what's your name?"

Young Eleven showed her wrist, _011_ showing.

" _Once_? Cool name."

" _Once_?"

"Oh, sorry. ' _Once_ ', it's eleven in Spanish."

"Spanish?"

"Yeah, you know, another language. Like English, but different."

Young Eleven said nothing.

"Um, well, I'm Jessica, some people call me Jess, but that's-"

"Jessie."

Young Jess blinked.

"What?"

Young Eleven pointed at Young Jess.

"Jessie."

She pointed at herself.

" _Once_."

Young Jess grinned.

"Yup. I'm Jessie, you're Once. At least...to us only."

"Only us."

Another memory appears, Young Eleven showing Young Jess her powers.

"Wow! That's so cool! My mom told me that you were special but, she didn't mention how COOL it was!"

"Training. Starts tomorrow. Can you come?"

"Training? Uh...I don't know. Maybe? I'll have to ask your dad."

"Papa will let it happen."

Another memory appears, this time showing Young Eleven with a shaved head sitting at a desk in front of a table, Young Jess sitting in the chair next to her, watching her.

Young Eleven seemed to be concentrating on the glass of water in front of her, glaring at it.

The water slowly raises, causing Young Jess to gasp in delight, Young Eleven grinning at her, the water raising more.

"You did it!"

Young Eleven laughs, Young Jess, frowning as she saw blood run down Young Eleven's nose.

She wiped it off gently, looking at it.

"A side effect to using your powers?"

Young Eleven shrugged.

"First time."

"First time it happened?"

Young Eleven nodded.

"Huh...well, I mean, everything's gotta have a side effect to something you do. Maybe this is your side effect. Anyways, great job!"

Another memory appears, this time, with Brenner talking to Young Jess.

"Jessica, how would you like to be like Eleven?"

"Like Eleven? You mean, do all those cool stuff? Sure! Will my parents allow it?"

"They gave me their permission, as long as nothing harms you...physically anyway."

Eleven gasps, pulling away.

Jess gasped, pulling off the fold from her eyes, looking at Eleven.

"Y-You and I knew each other! We knew each other!" she gasps, tears running down.

Eleven nodded, anger and sadness running through her veins.

"Papa made us forget each other...but why?"

"I don't know...I think we'll find out if we continue down the memory lane that way but, I think...we did something we weren't supposed to do and that was our punishment. God, that would explain my amnesia."

Eleven was quiet, looking down.

"What do you think happened?"

Jess frowned, looking at her.

"I have a theory...maybe we tried to run away. Maybe you or I caught them doing something bad to the other."

Eleven remembered how she was always being dragged away to that room she hated whenever she failed to do an experiment in any way.

Maybe Jess caught them doing that and tried to intervene.

"Maybe."

Jess sighed, wiping her nose, smiling softly at the smear of blood in her hand when she looked at it.

"Well...one thing's for sure...I did end up getting the same powers as you from doing those experiments with you."

Eleven chuckled softly, nodding.

"Yes. Yes, you did."

Jess grins.


End file.
